South Wales heroin gang leaders 'ran tight ship'

Top row left to right: Waseem Riaz, Imtiaz Ali, Mohammed Aftab Boota; Middle row left to right: Shazia Ahmed, Wasim Ali, Zawed Malik; Bottom row left to right: Paul Thomas, Mohammed Sajjad, Umar Arif

A drugs gang jailed over one of the biggest seizure of heroin Wales has ever seen included "some of the most serious criminals" seen in the country for a number of years, detectives have said.

Det Ch Insp Gary Phillips, who led the police investigation, said the group was headed by Mohammed Sajjad and Imtiaz Ali who "ran a fairly tight ship. They didn't get their hands dirty themselves".

He said: "They had a complex network of associates who they really trusted and kept the information very tight amongst their own group."

Sajjad, 38, from Cardiff, and Ali, 35, from Newport, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply heroin and were both jailed for 17 years.

Paul Thomas, 42, of Cardiff, and Waseem Riaz, 28, and Mohammed Aftab Boota, 27, both of Newport, also pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy. Thomas was jailed for nine years, Riaz and Boota for seven years.

Shazia Ahmed, 38, and Wasim Ali, 29, both from Newport, Zawed Malik, 41, of Greater Manchester, and Umar Arif, 29, of Cardiff were all found guilty of the charge after a trial. Ahmed was jailed for 10 years, Ali and Malik for eight years.

Tracey Ford, 39, of Cardiff, admitted money laundering and was jailed for three years and four months.

Det Ch Insp Phillips said the regional organised crime unit, which he is part of, became involved in the investigation because "they were very organised - the complexities within that organised crime group were immense".

Imtiaz Ali and Mohammed Sajjad (on the phone)

Just over 40kg of heroin was recovered during the investigation

Zawed Malik was arrested as he stopped for fuel in Symonds Yat, Forest of Dean

He said a team of dedicated surveillance officers spent about seven months targeting the group.

"They were a very complex organised crime group who had been operating for quite some time in the Gwent and Cardiff areas, headed by two men, Imtiaz Ali and Mohammed Sajjad," he said.

"They had a network of individuals working with and for them. They had trusted sources they would use to move money around the country and collect drugs on their behalf.

"It took a lot of investigation to piece together the evidence and the intelligence as to what they were doing and to build that picture up of the hierarchy.

"These were some of the most serious criminals we've seen in Wales over a number of years."

He said there were cross-border issues with the investigation - code-named Operation Frank - as gang members were travelling to the north of England to source their drugs, "but we have got the capability within our unit to undertake that type of investigation".

Police surveillance image of Imtiaz Ali and Mohammed Sajjad removing a black sports bag from a blender box and placing it in a black suitcase

Newport council CCTV of Aftab Boota leaving a house carrying a black bag and white carrier bag

"We're not surprised by the level of organisation, we see that fairly regularly with organised crime. The quantity of cash and quantity of drugs they were dealing did surprise us."

The heroin weighed just over 40kg (88lbs).

"I know from working with other organised crime units that that quantity of drugs is up there with the quantity that's seen in some of the larger cities across the country," he said.

"To put that into perspective, it's got a street value of about £5m.

"So, in effect, we've removed from the streets approximately half a million doses or deals, which has a significant impact, not only on the availability of drugs but the communities themselves - it's quite well-known acquisitive crime is linked to the availability of drugs.

"We know from our investigation that although the drugs were going into Newport and Cardiff they were being sold to other drug dealers and being circulated wider across southern Wales.

"Quite how far we don't know, but I would estimate across most of Wales with that volume of heroin," Det Chf Insp Phillips said.

Khalid Yassen, 30, of Cardiff, was found not guilty of the conspiracy and the jury could not reach a verdict for Umar Butt, 26, of Cardiff.