A drug dealing duo have been locked up for a total of more than 43 years after £17.2m of cocaine was found - some inside blocks of cheese. Lancashire Police netted its biggest-ever haul in a raid on a unit in Blackburn.
Police said its officers raided the premises on May 3 last year after seeing Saleem Chaudhri take possession of a Toyota estate from a drugs courier in the town and then drive it to the unit at the Old Fire Station. When he opened the shutter to police they discovered 217 kilos of cocaine, some hidden in the blocks of Gouda with others in bin bags ready to be handed to couriers and taken to be distributed across the UK.
Chaudhri was arrested at the unit following the raid. Police carrying out the investigation then identified Rieddul Mohabath, 28, of Dean Road, South Shields, who was directing couriers to Blackburn to pick up large quantities of cocaine. On the day of his arrest Chaudhri was due to hand 67 kilos to one courier and 63 kilos to another.
When Mohabath was arrested on July 3 police discovered an Audi outside his home in Dean Road, South Shields, which contained snap bags of cocaine. A later search of a property linked to him in Jarrow, South Shields where a "significant" amount of cash, a cash counting machine and suspected Class A drugs of varying weights were discovered in the basement.
Police searching Chaudhri’s home in Waterside, Blackburn, found nearly £10,000 in cash. They said evidence showed that between September 2022 and May 2023 Chaudhri agreed to sell over 2000 kilos of cocaine worth more than £70 million.
Chaudhri admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and money laundering and on Friday he was jailed at Preston Crown Court for 27 and a half years. Mohabath admitted conspiring to supply cocaine and was on Monday jailed for 16 years at the same court.
DS Haydn Sibley, of our East Targeted Crime Team, said: “Chaudhri and his associates went to great lengths to hide their product and with the amount of cocaine seized – the biggest haul ever in Lancashire – you can understand why. When we arrested Chaudhri you could see by the look on his face that his world had crumbled and that is reflected by the significant sentence he has received today.
“I welcome the sentences that both Chaudhri and Mohabath received and I hope they send out a clear message about what you should expect to happen when we catch you supplying Class A drugs in Lancashire.”
