A DRUGS gang who wanted to flood the streets of Pendle and Burnley with heroin have been jailed for a total of 14 years.

Police swooped on Siahosh Khan, 33, as he was buying drugs from his supplier in a public park in Nelson.

Today he is starting a six-year jail term after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs at Bradford Crown Court.

Khan was arrested along with Hamid Shah, from Bradford, during a drugs bust in the car park at Victoria Park.

Officers discovered a quarter of a kilo of the drug with an estimated street value of £15,000 hidden in Shah's car - a grey VW Jetta.

Another man, Asif Akhtar was arrested after his fingerprints were found on the packaging.

A substantial amount of drugs packaging was also found at his home in Bradford.

Police said the drugs would have been re-distributed by Khan in Pendle and Burnley in smaller packages, resulting in almost 1,500 individual deals.

Det Con Rob Goddard, from Pennine Division's Targeted Crime Unit, said Khan was ‘bulk buying’ the drugs from Shah before selling them on the streets.

He said: “It was an intelligence-led operation. We found out about drugs activity in Nelson and made an intervention, which we then linked back to Bradford.

“Khan was drug dealing in the Pendle area but his supply was coming from Bradford.

“He was buying in bulk from Shah and then selling them on the streets in smaller deals at £10 a bag.

“When he was arrested there was heroin with a street value of £15,000 found, which would have been 1,460 individual deals across Pendle and possibly into Burnley, which is a significant amount of drugs we have taken off the streets.”

Khan and Shah were arrested at around 3pm on December 1.

Khan, of Bishop Street, Nelson, was sentenced to six years in prison yesterday.

Shah, 21, of Newlands Place, Bradford, was sentenced to six years and two months, and Asif Akhtar, 21, also of Newlands Place, was jailed for two years.

Det Sgt Martin Kennedy, who was also involved in the investigation, said the prosecutions should serve as a ‘warning to people who think they can bring drugs into Lancashire’.

He said: “They brought a large amount of heroin into Lancashire with the intention of selling it on to flood the streets of Nelson.

“They had no regard for the children who were playing nearby and showed a blatant disrespect for the local community.

“This should send out a warning to people who think they can bring drugs into Lancashire that they will be targeted and sent to prison.

“We know the devastating impact drugs can have on our communities and we will continue to do everything we can to remove them and those who peddle them from our streets."