Yorkshire drug dealer ran network from jail

THE leader of a West Yorkshire drugs gang has been jailed for three years after a painstaking police investigation helped uncover the network he ran from prison.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday how a special team of officers and interpreters was set up to monitor and transcribe hundreds of recorded phone calls made by Halifax man Chaudhry Fiaz Hussain to his associates while he was on remand at Armley Jail, Leeds.

Hussain's right-hand man Nayyer Hafiz, 32, who was locked up for 30 months, was said to have had all the trappings of a drug dealer despite claiming to work as a taxi base operator.

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Alistair McDonald QC, prosecuting, said Hafiz drove a Mercedes sports car and rented a luxury flat at the Melting Point complex in Firth Street, Huddersfield.

In December 2004 police searched the flat and recovered cash, documentation linking Hafiz to Hussain and a photograph of Hafiz posing with a Ferrari car.

The court heard that Chaudhry Fiaz Hussain's brother-in-law Nadeem Hanif, 29, also acted as one of his lieutenants in the drugs operation and was linked to a Porsche 911 coupe bought with the proceeds of crime.

Hanif later took the Porsche to Holland where Hussain's brother Chaudhry Sajad Hussain used it while he was on the run for attempted murder following a shooting in Halifax.

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Mr McDonald explained how Chaudhry Fiaz Hussain, 32, had been awaiting trial on unrelated matters in 2004 when the police operation was mounted.

He said the police team had to listen to about 1,800 calls during which Hussain and his co-accused spoke in Punjabi, English and even used a rudimentary code when referring to drugs.

Mr McDonald said: "The calls clearly demonstrate that while Fiaz Hussain was in prison he remained the leader of a conspiracy to supply controlled drugs through his lieutenants who were on the outside Nayyer Hafiz and Nadeem Hanif."

He said the calls contained references to Class A drugs, large amounts of money and even the street value of heroin.

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"Once the conversations had been translated into plain language they clearly demonstrated that Fiaz Hussain was the leader of a drugs gang, with Nayyer Hafiz and Nadeem Hanif playing a prominent role in the drug dealing syndicate led by Fiaz Hussain," added Mr McDonald.

Chaudhry Fiaz Hussain, of no fixed abode, Hafiz and Hanif, of Harrow Street, Halifax, all admitted conspiracy to supply drugs between February 2003 and August 2006.

Hanif, who also pleaded guilty to removing criminal property relating to the Porsche car, was jailed for 21 months.

The complex police inquiry also involved money-laundering activities and two other men were also jailed by Judge Jonathan Durham Hall yesterday.

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Matloob Hussain, 34, of Queen's Road, Halifax, was locked up for 12 months after he admitted laundering a total of 125,000 while Mahmood Khan, 48, of Savile Park, Halifax, was jailed for nine months after he pleaded guilty to allowing his bank account to be used to launder money.

The court heard that yesterday's sentences were the final part of a series of cases involving most of the defendants and Judge Durham Hall stressed that the jail terms reflected the fact that most of the accused had served prison sentences since the offending in this case.

As part of the sentencing Judge Durham Hall also made confiscation orders relating to three of the defendants and also ordered the forfeiture of the Porsche 911 vehicle which cost 95,000.

Chaudhry Fiaz Hussain, who is currently serving a 12-year prison term and is not due for release until August next year, was told he would have to pay back just over 116,000 or face a further two years behind bars.

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He will have to sell the house he bought in Hopps Lane, Halifax in order to pay off that order.

Matloob Hussain will go to jail for a further two years and three months if he does not repay 125,000 and Mahmood Khan faces an extra 15 months in custody if he fails to pay just over 64,000.