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BEDFORDSHIRE ONLINE EDITION
Thursday November 15, 2018
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MULTI £ MILLION DRUGS BUSINESS CLOSED DOWN
An organised crime group who ran a multimillion pound drugs supply business out of Luton have been jailed for almost 100 years, following the largest ever seizure of cocaine in Bedfordshire.
The six men from Luton, who were described by the judge as ‘peddlers of misery’, sold Class A drugs to criminal gangs across the UK for onward distribution.
They were arrested last year following a proactive surveillance operation by officers from the eastern Region Special Operations Unit (eRSOU). When officers arrested the couriers of the group, 45 kilograms of import grade cocaine, with a street value of almost £5 million, was seized. Mohammed Waqas, 29, of Shervington Grove, and Mohammed Irfan Khan, 35, of Dunstable Road, who both had leading roles within the group, were both jailed for 25 years at Luton Crown Court
SIX MEN GET NEARLY 100 YEARS IN JAIL BETWEEN THEM
on Monday, november 12, 2018. Mohammed Aakil, 39, of Plait Court, and Rumel Hussain, 32, of Crawley Road, who were both couriers within the group and responsible for ferrying drugs from one location to another, will face 18 and 10 years in prison respectively, following the hearing at Luton Crown Court. During the sentencing the judge, His Honour Judge Foster, said: “Those who deal drugs can expect little mercy from the criminal
Leon says: “Luton’s new stadium is long overdue”
One of the Hatters’ biggest football exports of the past 20 years has thrown his support behind the campaign to regenerate Luton through plans for Power Court and newlands Park. And Leon Barnett, who grew up in the Runfold area of Luton and went on to play in the Premier League with West Bromwich Albion and norwich City, said the 17,500-seater town centre stadium is “long overdue”. The central defender has backed the efforts of the #saveourtown group and features in a new video posted on their social media platforms last night. Barnett played for Bushmead Wanderers and graduated from the Hatters’ youth ranks to make 70 appearances between 2002-2007 before he was transferred to West Brom for £2.5million. He has fond memories of his hometown club and playing at Kenilworth Road when they were last in the Championship. now riding high in League One, Luton Town are hoping to get back to the second tier of english football and, to help sustain themselves there, they want to move from their 113-year-old home to a state-of-theart stadium in the heart of the town centre at Power Court. “I think it’s well overdue,” said Barnett, 32, adding: “When I was there there was talk of a stadium and people were umming and ah-ing and saying should it be happening? “But you can see the team going in the
right direction and it’s the perfect place to put a stadium.” The stadium plans are part of two major regeneration projects, put forward by the club’s property arm, 2020 Developments, which is about much more than football as they would boost the local economy by more than £250million per year and create 10,000 new jobs. The proposals for Power Court and newlands Park – by Junction 10 of the M1 – would act as a catalyst to revitalise Luton with a range of exciting new facilities including a 1,800-capacity music venue, bars, restaurants, hotels, leisure, entertainment and community facilities, offices and high-end retail. In the video, filmed at his Leon Barnett Football Academy, the footballer said: “I don’t think it’s just the football that it helps. It helps the community, kids, it helps a lot of people. It will obviously bring in more jobs, money and a lot of positivity. I just think it brings a lot to the whole town in general.” However, the plans, which were unveiled in 2016, face continued opposition from Capital & Regional, the owners of The Mall shopping centre, who have recently sent Luton Borough Council a lengthy position statement to that effect. To watch the full #saveourtown video with Leon Barnett, go to: https://youtu.be/33YivOs2tDI To find out more about Barnett’s football academy, go to: www.leon barnettfootballacademy.co.uk
justice system… you are all peddlers of misery and between you, you pedalled a massive amount of cocaine.” Two other men, Manzor Bhuiyan, 31, of Guernsey Close, and Shaheriz Khan, 37, from Sherwood Road, each received a 10 year prison sentence earlier this year for their involvement in the drugs supply business. eRSOU Detective Inspector Trevor Davidson said: “This wellestablished and dangerous organised crime group was operating a wholesale drugs supply network at the very top end, dealing in multikilogram batches of import quality cocaine. “We’re really pleased that the group will now be spending such a lengthy amount of time behind bars and we hope this sends a strong message to other organised crime groups operating across the eastern region who think they can operate above the law. “We’re committed to tackling the importation and supply of Class A drugs across the eastern region and will continue to use our specialist capabilities to ensure groups such as this are brought to justice.”