Six cocaine dealers jailed for over 44 years after East Midlands operation

Six members of an organised crime group supplying cocaine across the East Midlands have been sentenced to a combined total of more than 44 years in prison.

Six cocaine dealers sentenced to 44-plus years after two-year covert operation

Six members of an organised crime group have been jailed for a combined total of more than 44 years after being convicted of supplying cocaine across the East Midlands, leicestermercury.co.uk reports.

The sentences follow a two-year covert operation led by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU), during which more than 50 warrants were executed and more than 50 people were arrested across Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Liverpool and Nottinghamshire.

The first three dealers were jailed in 2020 when the initial cases came to trial. Six further men — four of them from Leicestershire — have now been sentenced following trials at Leicester Crown Court.

On Monday, Florian Isufaj, 35, of Charlbury Road, Nottingham, was sentenced to nine years and ten months after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs. On the same day, Nasser Wade-Akhtar, 41, of Bobbers Mill Road, Nottingham, received six years and four months, also for conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Both men were members of a Nottingham organised crime group that had been supplying cocaine and cannabis to a separate criminal network in Leicester.

Last week, four members of the Leicester gang were jailed following a four-week trial at Leicester Crown Court in May, each convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Arrests made throughout the summer of 2019 were supported by the seizure of drugs, cash and mobile phones, which investigators said revealed the full scale of the operation.

Detective Inspector Lee Hunt of EMSOU said the group had run a structured, business-like operation. "Those convicted ran a business-like operation and they all had a key role to play in the supply of controlled drugs onto the streets," Hunt said. "Enforcement in 2019 saw us execute more than 50 warrants across the county, as well as in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Liverpool."

Hunt described the supply of controlled drugs as a "never-ending battle" and confirmed that further operations would follow. "Our efforts to stop the misuse of drugs will continue and we will carry out further operations of this nature to disrupt the criminal activity," he said.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)