16-year sentence for drugs conspirator

Rochdale man, Zaid Iqbal, 32, was sentenced to 16-years in prison at Bradford Crown Court on Monday for his part in a major drugs conspiracy that involved West Yorkshire Police, Greater Manchester Police and the Dutch National Drugs Unit.

Iqbal received the sentence after being found guilty of organising the transportation of 5kg of cocaine from Coventry to Manchester in 2009. He had earlier pleaded guilty to his involvement in four other class A drugs offences that were uncovered as part of a major police operation - Operation Stet.

Operation Stet and Stet Two ran for 18 months in 2009-10 and was a multi-force operation into the large scale supply of Class A drugs. In total, 25 men were sentenced after officers from West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester police seized over 50kg of class A drugs with a street value of over £10million.

Mohammed Ibrar Shaukat [37] of Allerton, Bradford and Abuhassan Rehman [29] of Pudsey were the ringleaders of the Bradford-based criminal gang who co-ordinated the purchase and the supply of Heroin and Cocaine. They received sentences of 18-years and 10-years respectively in March 2012.

As well as being involved in the transportation of the 5kg of cocaine from Coventry to Rochdale, over a two-week trial Iqbal was also shown to have been heavily involved in Shaukat and Rehman's operations, which included transporting 20kg of heroin from Holland into the country. The drugs were seized and two men arrest on the M5 motorway in November 2009.

DS Jason Barron of West Yorkshire Police said: "Iqbal's sentencing is the icing on the cake for Operation Stet, a huge operation that has resulted in the dismantling of a large and highly organised gang whose international criminality aimed to bring millions of pounds worth of dangerous drugs onto our counties’ streets.

"We are obviously delighted to see Iqbal behind bars for this significant term and his sentence, along with the lengthy sentences given to all of the others dealt with by the Courts here should send a clear message that If you are involved in any criminal activity, whether you are the co-ordinator, the distributor or are assisting a criminal in concealing their criminal activities then you will be caught and you will be punished."