Manchester Arena attack: Friends of bomber jailed for drug enterprise

Illyas Adubaber, Hamza Azouz and Hamam Alhamruni (photographed) were jailed along with brothers Mohammed and Ebrahim Sadigh

A drugs conspiracy involving friends of the Manchester Arena suicide bomber was "comfortably" worth £6m, a court has heard.

Five men have been sentenced to between six and 12 years at Manchester Crown Court following a spin-off inquiry from the Manchester bombing investigation.

The men, from south Manchester, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs between 2017 and 2020.

A judge said it was a "sophisticated and wide-ranging operation".

Judge Mark Ford KC said the turnover was "comfortably" worth £6m, and even possibly up to £10m.

Business cards

Searches at properties connected to the defendants saw detectives recover more than £63,000 in cash, as well as stolen luxury cars.

Neil Fryman, prosecuting, said business cards were spread around Manchester advertising named "drug lines", comprising phone numbers where people could order narcotics, and that a series of street dealers were responsible for providing drugs.

The defendants admitted conspiracy to supply drugs, including cocaine, with the central conspiracy lasting from January 2017 until December 2020.

One of the men, Illyas Abudaber, 22, was also sentenced for a series of other offences, including possession of a loaded firearm.

He had been arrested in October 2019 following a high-speed car chase involving police cars and a helicopter which ended when he drove over a "stinger" designed to burst his tyres.

Brothers Ebrahim and Mohammed Sadigh were jailed for seven and 11 years respectively

Abudaber was jailed for 12 years.

Brothers Mohammed Sadigh, 30, and Ebrahim Sadigh, 23, received sentences of 11 years and seven years respectively.

Hamza Azouz, 30, was jailed for six years, and Hamam Alhamruni, 23, was sentenced to six years and four months.

Alhamruni has not featured in any way at the Manchester Arena Inquiry.

The Sadigh brothers, Abudaber, and Azouz were all friends with Salman and Hashem Abedi, the brothers responsible for the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017 that killed 22 people.

Zuhir Nassrat is wanted for his role in the drugs operation

Another man, who was arrested during the Manchester Arena bombing investigation, is wanted for his role in the drugs conspiracy, but he is on the run in Libya.

Zuhir Nassrat, 24, was linked to two of the three chemicals used by the Abedi brothers to make the Arena bomb.

He was arrested but not charged in relation to the attack. He denied playing any part in what happened.

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