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Lancashire brothers who smuggled heroin in kids' clothes jailed (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Lancashire brothers who smuggled heroin in kids' clothes jailed
9:00am Friday 30th July 2010
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- By Jon Livesey » Reporter
HEROIN destined for the streets of Lancashire was hidden inside children’s clothing in an international smuggling operation.
Small packets of the drugs – worth around £50,000 – were concealed inside parcels of children’s coats.
But police intercepted the drugs cargo on its 4,000 mile journey from Karachi, in southern Pakistan, to addresses in Burnley and Preston.
Nohail Akhtar, 32, of Clayton Street, Nelson, arranged for almost a kilo of the killer drug to be shipped in a number of packages.
The heroin was sent through international post in a number of individual wraps hidden in parcels of bright-coloured jackets.
Police intercepted the drugs in July last year after being tipped off by HM Revenue and Customs officials.
If they had not taken the action, detectives said Lancashire’s streets could have been flooded with heroin.
Akhtar was jailed for three years for conspiring to import the class A drugs at Preston Crown Court on Wednesday.
And his brother and co-defendant, Soheel Akhtar, 34, formerley of Fletcher Road, Preston, was yesterday starting a four-year sentence.
The pair admitted conspiracy to supply heroin on or before July 6 2009 at an earlier hearing.
Detective Sergeant Andy Dixon, of Lancashire Police’s intelligence unit, said it was the first time he had worked on a case where people had imported such large quantities of hard drugs into the county from abroad.
Welcoming the sentences, he said their capture was a result of partnership working with HM Revenue and Customs.
He said: “It is my belief that these drugs were intended for sale on the streets of Lancashire.
“The sentences imposed on these individuals should send a powerful message to anyone who is involved or considering becoming involved in the supply of class A drugs, the supply of which can have devastating effects on individuals, families and communities.
“Lancashire Constabulary will at every opportunity seek to prosecute those people who engage in this activity.”
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Your Say YourTelegraph
hasslem hasslem, lower cumberworth says...
9:23am Fri 30 Jul 10
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Hope the punishment fits the crime - but I doubt it. These vermin will be out soon - literally spreading their poison once again in another imaginative smuggling scheme.
DEO VOLENTE, BLACKBURN says...
9:35am Fri 30 Jul 10
Is this man serious? 3 and 4 Year sentences for importing and supplying death and misery onto the streets of East Lancashire? Absolutely Disgraceful. These sentences will not deter other criminals given the massive amount of profit that can be made.
As for the "War on Drugs" trumpeted by Tony Blair it has been a miserable failure. New Labours "Drugs Intervention Programme" has wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers money with no tangible positive results.
The U.K. is now awash with Class A drugs despite the war in Afghanistan which was supposed to stop the Heroin trade.
We do need a real war on drugs in the U.K. Perhaps we should look to other countries and the harsher sentences that they impose for these offences as a starting point.
Deus Vobiscum
jaffa90, burnley says...
10:10am Fri 30 Jul 10
happycyclist, Darwen says...
11:54am Fri 30 Jul 10
jaffa90 wrote:This is the real injustice -people who, like jaffa have worked all their lives to find that they are thrown on the scrapheap and there is no money for them, yet the government spends upwards of £25K per year per criminal in prison. They're worth spending money on but decent people aren't. What a screwed up country we live in.
As USEYOURHEAD says two down how many more to go,i must be stupid working 40years paying 40years full time insurance stamp and now my body is knackered because of manual work,i`m struggling to get some ins back but the government has plenty of money to keep these scumbags in prison,why don`t they ship them out to a remote island and dump them.By the way i`m only 55 and the doctor says i look well for 75.
time.team, Blackburn says...
12:36pm Fri 30 Jul 10
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All credit to the police whenever drugs are detected but all to often let down because of inadequate punishments in the courts. There should be a definite deterrent to those silly enough to have participated in the first place and have only themselves to blame. Those wilfully dealing knowing the full consequences should be dealt with severely and only then will this problem have any chance of becoming under control.
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Only the fear of a definite deterrent will stop people taking and dealing in drugs. But at the present moment for whatever reason this deterrent does not exist!
time.team, Blackburn says...
12:41pm Fri 30 Jul 10
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What sort of deterrent is this?
loo82, The Burn says...
1:05pm Fri 30 Jul 10
Why should people like this get off basically scott free, they'll be back to their usual tricks when theyre out.
Hoi Polloi, Great Harwood says...
1:11pm Fri 30 Jul 10
Tetley Drinker, Blackburn says...
1:48pm Fri 30 Jul 10
Izanears, Nelson says...
4:40pm Fri 30 Jul 10
workaholic, Accrington says...
5:02pm Fri 30 Jul 10
Nelsoner, Nelson says...
5:21pm Fri 30 Jul 10
NeedISayMore?, says...
8:04pm Fri 30 Jul 10
Asian Lad, Nelson, BB9 for life! says...
9:30pm Fri 30 Jul 10
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If you are making money illegally I hope you get caught :-)
AkitaRedRose, Blackburn says...
10:09pm Fri 30 Jul 10
adamapple23, Blackburn says...
11:35am Sat 31 Jul 10
Two wrongs? And the Man complaining about his health, well you have just been a victim of your own blindness.
You have been paying your "StrawMan" since Birth just to keep the rich, rich. And now you are finished with, its time for Death for you. (BIRTH, EDUCATION, TAX'S AND DEATH) That is all we are wanted for.
lewops, blackburn says...
12:24pm Sat 31 Jul 10
11:35am Sat 31 Jul 10
Some people on here need their heads giving a wobble, I've heard nothing but racist comments. And people willing Death upon people.
Two wrongs? And the Man complaining about his health, well you have just been a victim of your own blindness.
You have been paying your "StrawMan" since Birth just to keep the rich, rich. And now you are finished with, its time for Death for you. (BIRTH, EDUCATION, TAX'S AND DEATH) That is all we are wanted for
IN REPLY:-
Racist comments- no a lot of people are stating fact- the drug trade from pakistan is rife- when I was at Manchester airport last time the Pakistan flight was being searched and guess what people removed with suspicious packages. Its not racist to want to protect family and friends from drug peddlers and lets get it right the majority are of asian origin in Blackburn. I have many friends who are asian and they are as appalled at all this as I am. Perhaps we should follow the lead from many Eastern cultures like Thailand and make the punishment fit the crime. If u want to peddle the posion that drugs are !!!- then be prepared when your caught to take them yourselves. This country needs to get tough on drug peddlers because until we do this epidemic will continue. There is a very small minority of Asians and whites alike that get satifaction at stirring up trouble in Blackburn whilst the rest of us try to get on- its not racist to state fact and the maojrity of the posters on here are just doing that oh and speech is still free in Britain. Keep up the good work HMCO and police your making the streets safer for our children.
hasslem hasslem, lower cumberworth says...
1:11pm Sat 31 Jul 10
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The Thailand and South East Asian like Vietnam heroin trade is controlled from Pakistan. As is everything that comes out of China?
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Why are flights checked so often coming in from the likes of Jamaica? Are the so called elephants that bring stuff in here in sealed condoms all of Muslim extraction? - of course not.
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We are meant to be in Afghanistan and part of what we are doing there is controlling/limiting the Heroin production out of that country and yet we are told it is being produced in record volumes under the noses of the Troops in there.
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I admit there is a huge volume of scumbags in Pakistan (like anywhere) - but it is not the only source of this evil trade.
Tetley Drinker, Blackburn says...
2:24pm Sat 31 Jul 10
NeedISayMore?, says...
3:14pm Sat 31 Jul 10
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Today I'm seeing 20 posts, almost 12hrs of posts were ALL wiped out. In't freedom brilliant.
Asian Lad, Nelson, BB9 for life! says...
3:24pm Sat 31 Jul 10
NeedISayMore? wrote:I'm thinking exactly the same :-(
Lastnight this story had 46 comments, a healthy debate had emerged, all most all posts were on topic and heartfelt.
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Today I'm seeing 20 posts, almost 12hrs of posts were ALL wiped out. In't freedom brilliant.
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This isn't fair. I have to admit though there were many irrelevant, racist & offensive posts which I'm glad have been removed. You were the only intelligent sounding person!
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I can't be bothered with this place anymore. I put so much effort into constructing my replies & they were simply wiped. Lancashire Telegraph should be ashamed of themselves.
slingyerhook, east lancs says...
4:15pm Sat 31 Jul 10
chris283, nelson says...
11:38am Mon 9 Aug 10
INTERCEPTED: Police found heroin wrapped in children’s brightly coloured jackets
JAILED: Nohail Akhtar
JAILED: Soheel Akhtar
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useyourhead, great harwood says...
9:22am Fri 30 Jul 10
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what sickens me even more is the thought that one of these 'little parcels' may have got missed, because lets face it those jackets weren't just going to be dumped, they too would have ended up on the market.
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some innocent child could have been put in harms way.
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get more of this scum out from among us!