Heroin hidden in coffee jars at beauty spots

10:44pm Friday 22nd February 2008

A DRUGS gang delivered to street dealers by placing heroin and cocaine in coffee jars which they hid at beauty spots.

And now the four Nelson men - who were caught on camera by police leaving the drugs under rocks and in shrubbery - have been jailed for a total of 18 years.

Their actions came to light after police investigation Operation Freight involving 60 officers into a turf war between gangs in Nelson.

After the members were sent to prison, police said they were part of an "organised retail distribution" of hard drugs across East Lancashire.

Leader Shamraiz Ansar, 24, of Helmsdale Road, was jailed for six years while his accomplices, Khobibe Ansar, 25, of St Paul's Street; Adnan Khan, 21, of Every Street, and Asim Shah, 20, of Railway Street, Nelson, all got four years and four months.

Shah also got an extra five months after pleading guilty to causing actual bodily harm after knocking his girlfriend's teeth out.

The four admitted two charges of conspiring to supply class A drugs between April and August 2007 at Burnley Crown Court.

Sentencing judge, Andrew Woolman, labelled the men an "organised retail distribution team."

He said Shamraiz had been profiting from the enterprise and that he had had an enhanced lifestyle.

After the case, Detective Inspector Dean Holden, of Burnley police, who led Operation Freight said: "The gang was hiding the drugs under rocks and among shrubs in a covert way: near lamp posts or gates so they could find them easily.

"Coffee jars are a simple but very effective way of storing drugs at little cost. If they were just in wrappers they could get attacked by animals.

"We think the gang was an established organised crime group operation in Pendle. There were frequently involved in various kinds of disorder in Nelson and they did have links with lots of people in the area."

Operation Freight was launched into what police said were suspected "high profile criminals and their associates" who had been involved in "numerous incidents of disorder over the last few years".

These included a fight involving 20 men armed with power tools, knives and axes took place in Carr Road last April.

Other incidents linked to the troubles include the stabbing of a man, 34, outside the Hour Glass pub, Leeds Road, in December 2006 and the knifing of a 19-year-old man in the chest and head outside Nelson Methodist Church, Hibson Road, a month earlier.

Last August this prompted police to launch a series of high-profile raids.

Mr Holden said: "Over 60 officers took part in the covert Operation Freight which took place over two days, following turf-war style fights which left residents living in fear of violence.

"We seized several high value cars, £5,000 in cash and heroin with over £8,000."

The court was told that, police carried our video surveillance which then revealed criminals were hiding drugs around rural areas.

A stash of 112g of heroin was found outside an address in Every Street that was connected to other paraphernalia in the house by forensic analysis.

The defendants were all arrested on August 6 and made no admissions when questioned.