Man jailed for drugs offences

Shazad Haveez Ahmed

A man has been jailed after drugs and cash were found in a house in Rochdale.

Shazad Haveez Ahmed, 28, of Marigold Street, Rochdale pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A Drugs.

He has been jailed for six and a half years.

At 4.55pm on Monday 11 January 2010 an officer was on patrol travelling on Deeplish Road, towards Ashfield Road, Rochdale.

He was passed by a grey Seat Leon, going in the other direction and noticed the driver was Ahmed. The officer knew Ahmed was a disqualified driver and turned his car round to pursue him, but the Seat sped out of sight.

The car was found a short time later abandoned on Tennyson Street.

The officer found the car was registered to Ahmed's house on Marigold Street.

At the house he noticed a strong smell of cannabis and a few moments later he saw Ahmed walking towards his house.

Ahmed was arrested for driving while disqualified and he asked the officer to lock up his house, but as the officer went to close the door, he again noticed a strong smell of cannabis.

When he opened the door he saw a large amount of drugs paraphernalia. The officer thought there may have been more people in the house so went in and saw a snap bag of cannabis, a snap bag of white powder and two bundles of cash.

A full search of the place was carried out and a large number of mobile phones were recovered along with drugs including cannabis and cocaine.

Further calls and texts were discovered, ranging from March 2009 until January 2010.

In February 2008, heroin and crack cocaine worth around £2500 were found in a house on Chasely Road, Rochdale.

Ahmed was not in the house at the time however enquiries by officers discovered he had obtained the rental agreement for the house.

He pleaded guilty to the offence on the basis that he had rented the property out knowing that it would be used to store drugs.

Detective Constable Daniel Waywell of Rochdale Drugs Unit said: "I am pleased that we have been able to take drugs off the streets of Rochdale and that Ahmed no longer able to peddle those drugs in the community.

"The sale and use of drugs can bring untold misery local residents as addicts turn to crimes such as burglary and robbery to fund their habit.

"We are committed to tackling drugs in Rochdale and I would ask anyone who has concerns about their sale or use, should call us - we will always take appropriate action."

Anyone with information on the sale or use of drugs should call police on 0161 872 5050 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.