90 YEARS FOR DRUGS GANG

The 13 men were convicted as part of Operation Yeoman, the biggest drugs probe West Mercia police has ever launched.

The two-month trial at Stafford Crown Court followed a two-year inquiry sparked by the deaths of eight county addicts.

The men locked up, yesterday, for supplying drugs in the county were Naheed Baig, Raymond Groves, Majid Jehangir, Jonathan Loxley, Mohammed Nasar, Paul Norris, Dil Pazir, Thomas Timms and James Topping - all of Worcester - and John Davies, of Droitwich. Alan Panter and Alan Gibney, both of Coventry, and Lee Johnson, of Chelmsley Wood, were also jailed.

Operation Yeoman uncovered heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis being ferried to Worcester from Birmingham three times a week.

Jailing the 13, Judge John Warner, said the drugs network had been "sophisticated" and "large-scale".

"The distribution and sale of heroin provided substantial profit and income and can cause untold misery for its users and families.

"The organisation also dealt with ecstasy in large quantities and substantial quantities of cocaine and cannabis in multi-kilo figures."

Operation Yeoman was launched after the eight addicts died within the first four months of 2001.

The operation, involving a total of 330 officers, focused on targeting couriers and masterminds, as well as street-level drug dealers.

"Operation Yeoman demonstrates our commitment to tracking down those involved in the unlawful supply of drugs and our determination to sustain the pressure on drug traffickers across the force area," said Det Insp Chris Scott, of West Mercia's Force Crime Unit, who led the operation.

"The convictions are of those who played a key role in the network.

"In addition, officers recovered stolen vehicles worth £250,000, stolen household electrical items, a stun gun and ammunition."

'Come and get me'

A DRUGS gang - whose leaders have been jailed for a total of 90 years - peddled drugs for five years before the ring was smashed by police in April 2002.

The drugs network was so efficient, it was distributing drugs with a street value of £250,000 a week in Worcestershire.

The leader of the gang, Mohammed Nasar, was so confident that he would never be caught, he bragged to patrolling police officers that he was a drug dealer and taunted them with "come and get me".

"They wrongly believed they were untouchable," said Det Insp Chris Scott.

"Eight drug-related deaths in four months obviously gave us cause for concern.

"So we set about unpicking the network and finding out who was responsible for bringing drugs into Worcestershire."

He said undercover officers penetrated the gang and associated with the dealers.

Police surveillance teams kept a round-the-clock vigil to record the drug pushers' movements and officers even rented a flat near two of the gang members.

By February 2002, police chiefs had gleaned enough information to press charges and the net was closing in on the gang.

A total of 300 officers were drafted in to swoop on addresses in Worcester, Coventry and Birmingham arresting a total of 73 people who were charged with a variety of drug-related offences.

He said the arrests had an impact on acquisitive crime - where items are stolen and the profits used to buy drugs - and drug users in the area because police had essentially cut off their supply.

"We did see a quite substantial impact but over time, those people resort to running in and out of the area to get their drugs.

Message

"But Operation Yeoman sends out a clear message that if you are dealing drugs in Worcestershire, we will come and get you - people are not untouchable."

DI Scott paid tribute to the officers, particularly those who went undercover.

"These officers put themselves at risk in what was undoubtedly a dangerous role.

"They performed in a most professional manner in circumstances where there was a continuing threat to their personal safety.

"Their evidence formed the backbone of the case that was presented to the jury and their dedication has been instrumental in bringing the people involved in this network to justice."

The painstaking work carried out by West Mercia police officers helped win them a Home Office Award.

It was voted second runner-up for investigations that target the criminal supply of controlled drugs and won the award in the Best Practise Against the Middle Market category.

Operation had a major impact

DRUGS experts have said Operation Yeoman had a major impact on drug-taking in the community.

Phil Deakin, co-ordinator of the Substance Misuse Action Team (SMAT), which works in partnership with the police, council and other agencies to tackle drugs, has praised Operation Yeoman - but says stopping the demand for drugs is critical to achieving victory in the war on drugs.

Otherwise, he said, the gap created in the market following the gang's arrest would soon be filled by new dealers selling heroin, cocaine and other drugs.

"Taking that level of dealership out of circulation does have an impact, but new dealers and new networks will come in and fill that market," said Mr Deakin.

"Operation Yeoman was a victory for the community in which these men operated.

"It took significant resources and had a very significant effect on these communities.

"However, we need to stop the demand for drugs because where there's demand, there will always be supply.

"To stop this supply, we need to stop people's desire for heroin and cocaine."

THE SENTENCES

Mohammed Nasar, aged 35, of Woolhope Road, Worcester, John Davies, aged 43, of de Wyche Road, Droitwich, Thomas Timms, aged 45, of Avening Close, Worcester, Jonathan Loxley, aged 25, of Woodside Road, Worcester, and Alan Gibney, aged 29, of Brockfield Avenue, Coventry, were convicted of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

Nasar was jailed for 15 years, Davies five-and-a-half years, Timms six years, Loxley seven years and Gibney eight years.

Lee Johnson, aged 30, of Longley Walk, Chelmsley Wood, admitted six charges of supplying class A drugs, and Naheed Baig, aged 32, of Canada Way, Worcester, and Dil Pazir, aged 22, of Victoria Avenue, Worcester, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs.

Majid Jehangir, aged 22, of Washington Street, Worcester, and James Topping, aged 37, of Chedworth Drive, Worcester, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

Raymond Groves, aged 23, of Stanley Road, Worcester, admitted supplying class A drugs and Paul Norris, aged 35, of Southfield Street, Worcester, pleaded guilty to two charges of supplying cocaine.

Alan Panter, aged 27, of Windmill Road, Coventry, admitted two charges of supplying cannabis, possessing class A drugs, possessing amphetamines, handling a stolen vehicle and possessing a shotgun without a certificate.

Johnson was jailed for four-and-a-half years, Baig and Pazir got 10-and-a-half years each, Jehangir six years and nine months, Groves and Panter three-and-a-half-years, Norris three years 11 months and Topping six years.