Drug trafficker smuggled £1m of heroin and cocaine from Birmingham to Leeds

A drug trafficker has been jailed for smuggling £1 million of drugs into Leeds.

Yakub Miah was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court today after being found guilty at trial of multiple offences including conspiracy to supply Class A drugs - mainly heroin - and possession with intent to supply cocaine and crack cocaine.

The 53-year-old was part of a drug trafficking network that smuggled 20kg of heroin, with a street value of £1 million, from Dudley, near Birmingham to Leeds, the court heard.

Prosecutor Abdul Shakoor detailed how during the Covid-19 lockdown in May 2020, courier Ali Hussain transported the drugs to Miah’s address in Leeds.

Hussain was jailed for seven years and five months in November for the possession of cannabis with intent to supply, after he was arrested with two kilos of the drug in March 2021.

Officers from West Yorkshire Police’s Programme Precision initiative, which targets serious and organised crime, built up an evidential picture that linked Miah to the conspiracy.

The evidence included encrypted phone messages between Miah, going by the codename ‘General Kaddafi’ and Shafiqul Islam Ali, formerly of Grafton Street, Bradford, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison after being tried and convicted in his absence.

A warrant was issued for his arrest, and officers are renewing their appeal for any information that could help to establish his current whereabouts.

Miah, also known as Mohammed Kazi, was initially arrested in July 2020 but fled the country while released under investigation and was charged in his absence.

Enquiries traced him to Ireland, and he was arrested there in January this year and extradited back to the UK in February to face trial.

Offering mitigation, his defence counsel Chloe Hudson said that Miah’s role in the operation amounted to that of a “warehouse man”.

Judge Mushtaq Khokhar sentenced Miah, of Hill Top Avenue, Harehills, to 14 years in prison.

Detective Inspector Chris Rukin, who led the investigation, said: “Yakub Miah was a key player in this very significant criminal enterprise that saw a huge amount of heroin brought to Leeds from Birmingham for onward supply during the country’s first Covid lockdown.

“He tried to cheat justice by fleeing abroad but the tenacity of the investigation team and support from our colleagues in Ireland saw him detained and brought back to the UK to face justice.

“We know only too well how the supply of Class A drugs fuels crime and serious violence in our communities and brings misery to the lives of individual users and their families, and those who involve themselves in this harmful and exploitative trade should expect to face the consequences.

“We are determined to see that everyone who was involved answers for their actions, and we continue to appeal for anyone who has any information that could assist us in locating Shafiqul Islam Ali who remains wanted after being sentenced in his absence.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Programme Precision officers online via www.westyorkshire.police.uk/livechat quoting reference 13200327588.

Information can be given anonymously to independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.