Jail for county lines gang behind million-pound drugs network
All seven members pleaded guilty to drug related offences
Last updated 18th Apr 2024
A county lines gang from Bradford who set up over a million-pound county lines drugs network in a bid to take over communities across Goole and Hull, have been sentenced to a combined total of 27-years behind bars.
All seven appeared separately before Hull Crown Court last week after pleading guilty to drug related offences, admitting their involvement to distributing drugs across communities, earlier this year.
- Safraz Zahir, 29, of Parsonage Road, Bradford was charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and was sentenced to nine-years-and-seven-months in prison. Zahir was also charged with two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs and was sentenced to three-years to run concurrently.
- Umair Shakeel, 25, of Ryan Street, Bradford was charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs and was sentenced to eight-years in prison.
- Justin Horniak, 21, of Halton Place, Bradford was charged with two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and was sentenced to six-years-and-11-months in prison.
- Mohammed Raja, 25, Woodroyd Road, Bradford was charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs and was sentenced to two-years-and-10-months.
- Tommy Tomassi, 22, of Queensgate Street, Hull, was charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs and possession of an offensive weapon and received a 24-months-community order to run concurrently.
- Asher Buckingham, 19, of Terry Street, Hull, was charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs and possession with intent to supply cannabis. He received a 24-months rehabilitation order.
- Harvey Fox, 19, of Queensgate Street, Hull, was charged with possession with intent to supply class A drugs and was sentenced to 18-months suspended sentenced for two-years. He was also required to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and 15-day of rehabilitation and a victim surcharge.
Police Constable Claire Dobson leading the investigation into the county lines drugs network, said: “This was an extremely complex and highly coordinated operation by our Organised Crime Unit, and I hope this outcome will serve as a stark warning to others looking to bring harmful drugs into our towns and cities that we won’t tolerate it.
“The investigation saw officers trawling through a vast amount of mobile phone data, along with forensic and tactical enforcements in order to put forward a thorough prosecution case.
“Zahir, Shakeel, Horniak, Raja, Tomassi, Buckingham, Fox has no regard for the lives of those purchasing the substances that they bring into our communities. This is a business to these dangerous people, with making money being the sole objective.
“We have disrupted a major county lines drug dealing gang, jailing seven people involved in a significant conspiracy, and we will continue to proactively target those we believe to be involved in drugs.
“I would like to thank our colleagues from West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire Police and partnering agencies for their support throughout the entirety of this investigation.
“I would also like to thank all the people who contact us with information about drug dealing and drug-related crime in their area and I would continue to encourage anyone with any information that may assist in us building the bigger picture, to please get in touch.”