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Heroin crime lord's plan to put £1m of drugs on Sheffield streets
BIG time dealer Parwaz Iqbal tried to flood the streets of Sheffield with drugs worth more than a million pounds - and boasted few underworld criminals could rival him.
But the crimelord met his match when he and his associates ended up on the radar of detectives from the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
Iqbal, aged 51, of Carterknowle Road, Millhouses, Sheffield, was jailed for 14 years after admitting he organised the supply of heroin and amphetamines.
Two associates who acted as his couriers were also jailed.
Tafail Hussain, 56, of East Bank Road, Arbourthorne, who admitted helping to transport 15kg of heroin with a street value of 675,000, received a six-and-a-half year sentence.
And Mohammed Arif, 50, of Oak Dale Road, Nether Edge, asked by Iqbal to drive to London to collect 447,000 of amphetamines, was locked up for four years.
All will serve at least half their time behind bars before being eligible for parole.
Heroin crime lord's cut-price offers and fast service
Sheffield Crown Court heard Iqbal also sold amphetamines worth 62,000 to a criminal from Liverpool, and handed the drugs over in a car park on Chesterfield Road, Sheffield.
Iqbal was overheard talking about being able to import up to 50kg of heroin - worth 2million plus - and even flying abroad to collect drugs.
Judge John Swanson, sentencing, told Iqbal: "You were dealing in very substantial quantities and values.
"It may well be there are people in this country above you - but you are as close as can be to the importation and the sentence must be substantial."
Iqbal had previously been jailed for six years for heroin trafficking in the 1990s.
The court heard the Serious Organised Crime Agency, a crack police team which investigates major criminals, acted on intelligence and launched a covert investigation of Iqbal last year.
It involved surveillance and placing a listening device in his VW Passatt car last autumn to gather evidence.
Neither Hussain nor Arif had previous convictions.
Hussain's sentence was higher because he had assisted Iqbal on several occasions whereas Arif, although caught with a substantial quantity of drugs, had only a "limited role".
Sheffield's top policeman Chief Supt Paul Broadbent today welcomed the prosecutions and issued a stark warning to other dealers.
"No matter how big or small a drug dealer or criminal you are, no stone will be left unturned to pursue you," he said.
"This case shows how law enforcement agencies work extremely well together for the greater good of purging the streets of drugs."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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