Men jailed for plot to hide £730k of heroin in carpets destined for Telford
Two men planned to bring heroin worth £730,000 into Telford by hiding it in rolled-up carpets.
Ali Raza Shah and Christopher John Leslie have been given lengthy prison sentences following an investigation by Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police Serious Organised Crime Unit.
Hereford Crown Court heard that on July 20, 2013, a consignment of 14 packaged carpets was shipped by air from Pakistan to the UK, arriving at Heathrow Airport on August 2.
UK Border Force officers discovered that two of the three carpets in one of the rolls contained a sophisticated concealment of heroin.
The drug had been fitted into hollow straws with the carpet woven around them. The carpets looked identical to all others in the load, but when examined by the laboratory were found to contain 7.3kg of heroin at a purity of 45-50 per cent, giving a realisable street value of approximately £730,000.
Leslie and Shah were both arrested by Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police officers on August 21, 2013 having involved themselves in protracted arrangements over the phone to have the carpets delivered to and collected in Telford, then Birmingham.
The consignment was originally destined for an address in Leegomery, but at the last minute the address changed to a storage facility in Birmingham. Leslie and Shah were responsible for the collection of the carpets.
Shah, 36, of Malmesbury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, was yesterday sentenced to 10 years in prison at Hereford Crown Court for conspiracy to supply heroin.
Leslie, 32, of Kitchener Road, Selly Park, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin when he appeared at Worcester Crown Court on November 4 last year. On the same date he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply 9kg of cannabis.
On January 21, Leslie was sentenced to six years in prison for conspiracy to supply heroin and one year in prison for possession with intent to supply cannabis, to be served consecutively.
Carl Moore, detective inspector who led the investigation, said: "This was a multi-agency investigation conducted by Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police together with Border Force. We are regularly involved in targeting this type of serious organised criminality with our partner agencies.
"This investigation resulted in the removal of a significant amount of heroin from our communities. Heroin is one of the most harmful of controlled drugs and the sentences handed out reflect the serious harm that these drugs do to our communities."
Anyone with information on the supply of drugs can contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
