Two West Yorkshire drug dealers jailed over £1m ketamine and cocaine haul
Uzair Hamid and Kai Helliwell were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court after admitting drugs offences. Hamid received seven and a half years for ketamine worth up to £1.46m.
West Yorkshire ketamine and cocaine dealers sentenced at Leeds Crown Court
Westyorkshire.police.uk reports that two men from the Huddersfield area have been jailed following a police investigation into an organised drug supply network in Kirklees.
Uzair Hamid, 30, of Deveron Grove, Huddersfield, was sentenced to seven years and six months at Leeds Crown Court on 15 January. He admitted being concerned in the supply of ketamine, possession with intent to supply ketamine, possession with intent to supply cannabis, conspiring to supply cocaine, and being concerned in the supply of a Class B drug. Specialists valued the ketamine seized from him at between £511,000 and £1,460,000.
Kai Helliwell, 25, of Whitwell Drive, Elland, received a three-year sentence for possession with intent to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply cocaine. The cocaine recovered from him was valued at between £5,396 and £9,516.
Both men were arrested on the evening of 15 May following enquiries by detectives from the force's specialist Precision Organised Crime Unit. Officers arrested Hamid outside his home address and subsequently searched the property, where Class B drugs were discovered. Helliwell, identified through police enquiries as working alongside Hamid, was stopped while driving in the Fixby area of Huddersfield later that same evening. A search of his vehicle uncovered a quantity of suspected Class A drugs.
Both men appeared before Leeds Magistrates Court on 17 May and were charged with drugs offences. Their convictions and sentencing have been welcomed by the Precision Organised Crime Unit.
Detective Inspector Kevin Daly of the unit said: "Drug dealing brings nothing but misery to our streets and is a key cause of wider organised crime and related violence that none of us want to see."
Daly added that the quantity of ketamine recovered was particularly significant. "The amount of ketamine recovered by officers in particular was substantial and clearly worth very significant amounts of money if it had been dealt on our streets," he said. "Ketamine use can cause significant mental health issues as well as long term liver and kidney damage to users, so it really has been good news for neighbourhoods that such a large volume of this drug was stopped from hitting the streets."
The detective inspector noted that investigations into drugs supply and wider organised crime across the West Yorkshire force area are continuing. He urged members of the public with relevant information to contact the independent Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.
Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)