£2.5m heist gang get a passport to prison

FIVE men, including four from Oldham, have been jailed for their involvement in the theft of passports worth £2.5 million from a van in Chadderton.

Boxes containing around 3,000 blank passports and visas were stolen in the raid, which took place in July last year. The vehicle was targeted after the driver left it to buy a newspaper and a chocolate bar from a newsagent.

The stolen passports were destined for embassies abroad as they were being driven from 3M Security Printing and Systems in Chadderton to RAF Northolt in the early hours, by an unnamed firm on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Alan Burke, (49), of Hathershaw Lane, Oldham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal at an earlier hearing and was jailed for four and a half years.

Mohammed Shanawaz (24), of Old Lane, Chadderton, was sentenced to three years in prison.

Jaweed Karim (18) of Vicarage Street, Hollinwood, was given 21 months detention in a young offender’s institute, Mohammed Bilal Khan, (53) of Manchester Road, Oldham was jailed for five and a half years, and Mohammed Fiaz, (34), of Oldham Road, Manchester, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

They all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods during a trial at Manchester Crown Court Crown Square. The court heard that Burke was a passenger in the van at the time of theft, and was left alone when the driver went into the newsagents.

Police were called 45 minutes later, and told that Burke had been attacked and the passports stolen — a fabricated story to cover up Burke’s involvement in the conspiracy.

But police arrested him, believing him to be in some way involved.

A joint investigation between the serious organised crime agency, Greater Manchester Police’s serious crime division and major incident team and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office resulted in a number of arrests on January 4, 2009, when a car was stopped on the M62 near Oldham.

Karim and Shanawaz were in the car with nearly 1,500 visas and 1.600 passports.

Bilal Khan and Fiaz were arrested four days later, and searches uncovered a further 600 passports.

Investigations into the outstanding passports and visas are ongoing.

n In a separate police operation, another 22 passports have been recovered and three men have been charged with conspiracy to handle stolen goods.