£7 million drug haul man to repay just £2,770

A 52-year-old man who made more than £1 million by importing heroin into a Shropshire industrial estate must pay back just £2,770, a court has ruled.

Gulab Mohammed imported more than £7.5 million of the drug disguised as chilli powder from Pakistan in November 2010 and arranged for it to be stored at Waymills Industrial Estate in Whitchurch.

Birmingham Crown Court yesterday ruled Mohammed had made a 'criminal benefit' of £1.3 million.

But it ordered the confiscation of just £2,770 after hearing he had realisable assets of only £132,800 following a financial investigation by Serious & Organised Crime Agency officers.

Details were revealed during a hearing conducted by video link from Whitemoor Prison in Cambridgshire where the father-of-six is serving a 21-year sentence for the drugs offence.

Mohammed and son Kalid Mohammed, 29, both of Small Heath, Birmingham, were jailed for the fraudulent evasion of the prohibition of the importation of heroin in what was described as 'a determined and sophisticated operation'.

More than 70kg of heroin, concealed in sacks of chilli powder, was discovered at Felixstowe and SOCA launched a covert operation using an undercover officer to take the containment to Birmingham and then on to Whitchurch where the drugs were unloaded and the men arrested.

Gulab Mohammed, who had acted as a conduit between the UK and Pakistan, was found guilty following a trial last year.

His son pleaded guilty to organising the delivery of the drugs into the country and their subsequent transportation to Shropshire.

At yesterday's hearing Gulab Mohammed successfully claimed the bulk of the money was the value of his home in Hugh Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, which was registered in his wife's name.

The judge made a confiscation order for £2,770; money from the sale of an Audi car and £70 in cash. At a hearing in March Kalid Mohammed, who is serving a 19-year term, was also said to have an estimated criminal benefit of £1.3 million, and told to repay £20,000.

By Arthur Mills