Nine men jailed for conspiring to run multi-million-pound Class A drug supply from Burnley and Pendle

Members of an organised crime group (OCG) – aged 20 to 54 – have been sentenced to nearly 50 years between them for conspiring to supply heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine throughout the North-West, Yorkshire and the Midlands.

Javed Ahmed (30) of Lune Street in Colne, Umar Hussain (23) of Southfield Square in Nelson and Zain Shah, also 23, of Claughton Street in Burnley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply all three drugs. Javed Ahmed was jailed for eight years and Shah for eight and a half, while Hussain will be sentenced at a later date.

Awais Khan (23) of St Paul’s Road and Glen Tranter (54) of May Street in Nelson, Ali Hassan (20) of Duke Street in Colne, Sohail Khan (27) of Cleaver Street and Dillon Gabriel (21) of Bernard Street in Burnley, and Subhan Mushtaq (20) of Pennine Way in Brierfield all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin. The courts sentenced Awais Khan to seven years, Tranter to three years and 10 months, Hassan to six years, Sohail Khan to four years and four months, Gabriel to three years and 10 months, and Mushtaq to eight years.

DCI Tom Edmondson, of East CID, said: “This was a significant policing operation, which thanks to the hard work, persistence and dedication of the officers from our East Target Crime Unit, has led to four Class A drug-dealing lines being taken out of commission and members of a sophisticated OCG jailed.

“I hope the outcome of this case sends out a clear and strong message that East Lancashire should be seen as a hostile environment for those who conspire to supply Class A drugs and that our officers will do everything in their power to identify them and take down their criminal networks.”

Officers need to speak to 33-year-old Rafhan Sarwar (pictured alone) of Charles Street in Nelson in connection with the cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin supply conspiracy.

The OCG operated drug supply lines called “Don”, “Shark”, “Rambo” and “Harry” from February 2022 to March 2023. The heads were Awais Khan, Javed Ahmed, Umar Hussain and Subhan Mushtaq, who regularly moved and hired luxury cottages and holiday rentals costing thousands of pounds per week to avoid detection.

But police inquiries revealed a drug courier arrested in Humberside in possession of 5kg of cocaine in April 2022 had travelled from Nelson with a total of 10kg, with Mushtaq directing him where to go. The courier had completed multiple wholesale cocaine deals in Hull, Birmingham and Leicester.

Khan and Ahmed ran the Don and Shark Lines, directing their street dealers and drivers, and advertising drugs for sale via text message. CCTV showed both men buying top up credit for their drugs Lines. Sohail Khan, Glen Tranter and Dillon Gabriel were their dealers.

Mushtaq controlled the Rambo and Harry Lines from a safehouse in Brierfield, with defendants Zain Shah and Ali Hassan acting as their dealers.

Officers also seized cash and weapons as part of the investigation.