Two Bangladeshi-origin drug dealers have been jailed for three years each in prison after Scotland Yard bust a drugs gang in east London following a campaign against drugs by the local community.
Rukon Ahmed and Dilraj Miah, both 29 years old, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A, or banned, drugs and two counts of possessing a controlled Class A drug with intent.
Residents in Tower Hamlets and Hackney boroughs of east London – with large Bangladeshi origin populations – teamed up to put up artwork road signs to draw attention to the issue of drug abuse and highlight the impact of the crime in their area.
The Metropolitan Police investigation identified four separate drugs phone lines being used to deal a range of drugs including Class A drugs in the area. On Monday, the final prosecution and sentencing in the drugs bust took place at Snaresbrook Crown Court in London.
The court heard how the drugs network used a pre-paid and unregistered phone lines, which peaked in activity between 5pm and 2am with most calls being under 20 seconds – consistent with those calling to order drugs being told where to meet dealers. The group, which included eight dealers in total, were arrested in February this year.
Jonathan Shepherd, from the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Dealing drugs such as heroin can have devastating consequences for vulnerable people and local communities. These defendants showed little consideration for those around them – often openly dealing drugs in the day in front of young children and encouraging aggressive drug users to loiter in the area.
“The different phone lines represented a coordinated effort between various drugs operations to work together to deal dangerous drugs, in effect blighting the local community to such an extent that they felt they had to take action.
“These prosecutions aimed to take down the operational and managerial functions of these organised drug dealing groups, in order to reduce anti-social behaviour for this affected community.
“These successful prosecutions show that that the CPS takes drug dealing extremely seriously and will bring offenders to court to face justice.”