Oldham man jailed in Bradford drugs trial

Guilty... Mohammed Arif from Oldham

Arif found with £8,000 cash and pressing machines
A DAD-OF-SEVEN from Oldham has been jailed for over nine years for his part in a multi-million pound international drugs conspiracy.

When police raided Mohammed Arif’s home, they found £8,000 cash stashed behind a mirror and two hydraulic presses suitable for compressing heroin.

The 39-year-old of Hillside Avenue, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs at Bradford Crown Court.

He was locked up for nine years and four months after judge Robert Bartfield told him he was “playing for very-high stakes indeed.”

Along with Arif in the dock were Mazafar Iqbal of Toller Drive, Bradford, who was caught transporting £1 million of heroin in his cab when he worked for Girlington Private Hire in October, 2009.

The court heard he was caught up in a drugs ring stretching from Bradford across the north of England to Holland. He was jailed for seven years, two months.

Also in court were John Chapman (30) of Hall Orchard Avenue, Wetherby; John Clark (29) of West Lothian, Scotland, and Zahid Iqbal (30) of Colley Street, Rochdale.

Chapman was jailed for five years and 11 months and Clark, who left his fingerprints on heroin packages, was put away for four years and three months.

Zahid Iqbal, said to be a significant player in the conspiracy, is due to be sentenced.

Judge Bartfield said: “This was wholesale dealing in Class-A drugs in very substantial quantities. It was an enterprise in which you all had your separate roles.”

Detective inspector Noel Devine, of West Yorkshire Police said: “This has been a large-scale investigation and has demonstrated how police forces work across borders to tackle criminality.

“We have seized millions of pounds of Class-A drugs and prevented them from reaching the streets and the sentences reflect the seriousness of the criminality they were involved in.”