British-Indian jailed for conspiring to supply class A drugs in UK

London, June 27

A 48-year-old Indian-origin drug dealer has been jailed for four years and eight months for conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine to hundreds of users in a city in central England, police said.

Sanjeev Virdi was recently sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court along with Hassan Kazmi, 29, for running a significant drugs line in Wolverhampton that received more than 70,000 calls and texts from drug users in a three-month period. 

"We've shut down a significant drugs line running in Wolverhampton in an investigation which has seen two jailed for a total of more than 14 years," the West Midlands Police said. 

While Kazmi was identified as the line holder of the 'H' line which supplied Class A drugs, Virdi was a street runner who met with their customers. The line carried out business daily, operating between 9 am and 9 pm, with Kazmi having sole control of it. Forensic analysis later revealed that he was in direct contact with all of them. 

Acting on intelligence, police executed a drugs warrant at a flat in Grafton Court on November 11, 2020 and found class A drugs worth 2,000 pounds, as well as drugs paraphernalia and 2,000 pounds cash. 

After Kazmi, Virdi was later arrested in Wolverhampton on suspicion of possession with intent to supply, and several hundreds of pounds of class A drugs as well as a number of mobile phones were also seized. 

"We've broken up a sophisticated crime group headed by Kazmi, who allowed others to carry and store drugs on his behalf in an attempt to evade capture," Detective Constable Thomas Reece of Force CID, said. 

Kazmi was jailed for 11 years for conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine at Wolverhampton Crown Court, and Virdi was jailed for four years and eight months for the same offence. 

"Virdi played a lesser role, reflected by his sentence, but both men were part of an operation which supplied hundreds of users and is now out of operation," Reece said. 

Last week, Leicester Crown Court sentenced British-Indian Kamaljit Singh, his nephew Bhipon Chahal and other eight members of his gang to almost 100 years in jail for supplying drugs at the height of the Covid pandemic. During 2020, they had made over 1.5 million pounds.

Another British-Indian, Sarina Duggal, was sentenced to seven years in jail last week for being part of a gang who preyed on children to supply drugs. 

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-IANS