Burnley RSS Feed Send your news, pictures & videos


LT block logo JOIN THE DEBATE BY ADDING YOUR COMMENTS ON THESE STORIES

Registering to post comments on the Lancashire Telegraph website only takes a few seconds. Click here to go to the registration page.

Lancashire brothers who smuggled heroin in kids' clothes jailed

9:00am Friday 30th July 2010 in


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.”

Comments(24)

useyourhead says...
9:22am Fri 30 Jul 10

two down, how many more to go, i hope the proceeds of crime team pay a visit too!
-
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.
-
some innocent child could have been put in harms way.
-
get more of this scum out from among us!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

hasslem hasslem says...
9:23am Fri 30 Jul 10

Scum - well done HMRC for detecting it and the Cops for taking appropriate action.
.
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.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

DEO VOLENTE says...
9:35am Fri 30 Jul 10

“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?
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

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

jaffa90 says...
10:10am Fri 30 Jul 10

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.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

happycyclist says...
11:54am Fri 30 Jul 10

jaffa90 wrote:
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.
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.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

time.team says...
12:36pm Fri 30 Jul 10

Absolutely sick and tired of hearing about the problems that illegal drugs cause without ever being shown any form of control against it’s existence. It is and never has been taken seriously enough but illegal hard drugs will kill and often destroy the lives of both the addict and of any innocent family or friends.
-
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.
-
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!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

time.team says...
12:41pm Fri 30 Jul 10

PS: Akhtar was jailed for three years for conspiring to import the class A drugs at Preston Crown Court on Wednesday.
-
What sort of deterrent is this?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

loo82 says...
1:05pm Fri 30 Jul 10

Inject them with the whole lot in one blow.

Why should people like this get off basically scott free, they'll be back to their usual tricks when theyre out.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Hoi Polloi says...
1:11pm Fri 30 Jul 10

Seems simple to me, they need a dose of their own medicine, a very big dose, lets see how their family feels to loose a loved one to that drug.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Tetley Drinker says...
1:48pm Fri 30 Jul 10

THese are small fry but the sentences are in order. Its businessmen who import and distribute the big shipments to service demands in the big cities and towns with drug problems. The Serious Organised Crime Agency know abot them but they are too smart to get caught.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Izanears says...
4:40pm Fri 30 Jul 10

After reading many similar reports in this paper and others, I am convinced that many businesses run by people of the same ilk only exist/survive because of nefarious activities.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

workaholic says...
5:02pm Fri 30 Jul 10

Not Long Enough - should be a mandatory Life Sentence! Or better still - Execution!!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Nelsoner says...
5:21pm Fri 30 Jul 10

Deport them to spend their sentences in some Pakistani hell hole prison.We send millions in aid to Pakistan as well as fighting their wars in Afghanistan against the Taliban and they owe us big time. Then passports revoked with a lifetime ban on ever returning to UK.Problem is we have liberal idiot law lords who dont live amongst these scum and start bleating on about civil liberties.This trash forefit any claims to rights when they paddle death via heroin simple.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

NeedISayMore? says...
8:04pm Fri 30 Jul 10

Whilst bleating on and on and calling as many people as you can "racists" your missing the point.. Heroin kills, the supply and distrobution to street level of heroin is in the hands of muslims (FACT) , If the kettle is black it get called black. (and get ready for the kettle brigade to call you names)

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Asian Lad says...
9:30pm Fri 30 Jul 10

****! I recognise these two. I would regularly see them around town and was quite shocked to learn that they are heroin smugglers. They seemed like quiet everyday people. As expected though pathetically light sentences as usual! Hope they enjoy dropping the soap LOL
.
If you are making money illegally I hope you get caught :-)

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

AkitaRedRose says...
10:09pm Fri 30 Jul 10

The thing that strikes me here is the sentences handed out. If you look at the sentences given out on Operation Nimrod over the years, you will find that the average sentence is 3 years. Now it has to be accepted that the majority of these people convicted were 'low level' street dealers and the majority were herion users feeding a habit. So to be consistent, surely these two should have got much longer, at least 8 years each. The fact that it was a highly organised criminal conspiracy, and also it was an importation charge which in itself is far more serious offence should have warranted a long custodial term. The judges need to be more consistent.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

adamapple23 says...
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.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

lewops says...
12:24pm Sat 31 Jul 10

adamapple23, Blackburn says...
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.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

hasslem hasslem says...
1:11pm Sat 31 Jul 10

So just so I understand - Muslims control all the Cocaine trade coming out of South and Central America.
.
The Thailand and South East Asian like Vietnam heroin trade is controlled from Pakistan. As is everything that comes out of China?
.
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.
.
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.
.
I admit there is a huge volume of scumbags in Pakistan (like anywhere) - but it is not the only source of this evil trade.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Tetley Drinker says...
2:24pm Sat 31 Jul 10

Really the bulk of this trade is controlled by cash-rich regionally businessmen. They use business and storage facilities to import and distribute it and cream off the bulk of the profits. They are too careful to get caught, laundering the cash through legitimate cash intensive businesses. How many of the small fry can afford the £100,000-£250,000 it costs to finance large shipments for distribution to Northern cities and towns?. Most of the people caught are small fry : what we have here is a small independent operation.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

NeedISayMore? says...
3:14pm Sat 31 Jul 10

Lastnight this story had 46 comments, a healthy debate had emerged, all most all posts were on topic and heartfelt.
-
Today I'm seeing 20 posts, almost 12hrs of posts were ALL wiped out. In't freedom brilliant.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Asian Lad says...
3:24pm Sat 31 Jul 10

NeedISayMore? wrote:
Lastnight this story had 46 comments, a healthy debate had emerged, all most all posts were on topic and heartfelt.
-
Today I'm seeing 20 posts, almost 12hrs of posts were ALL wiped out. In't freedom brilliant.
I'm thinking exactly the same :-(
.
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!
.
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.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

slingyerhook says...
4:15pm Sat 31 Jul 10

doh

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

chris283 says...
11:38am Mon 9 Aug 10

no surprise there then

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

More Burnley stories


INTERCEPTED: Police found heroin wrapped in children’s brightly coloured jackets JAILED: Nohail Akhtar JAILED: Soheel Akhtar

INTERCEPTED: Police found heroin wrapped in children’s brightly coloured jackets

JAILED: Nohail Akhtar

JAILED: Soheel Akhtar



Most popular



Local Information

Enter your postcode, town or place name

House prices »   Schools »   Crime »   Hospitals »

Local Businesses