Drugs Smuggler Mohammed Naveed Jailed Over £2M Heroin Ring

Heroin Smuggler Jailed Over Haul Valued At More Than £2M

A drugs smuggler who was caught trying to bring £700,000 of heroin through a UK airport has been jailed for 16 years, Border Force has said.

The agency said Mohammed Naveed was the third of three connected smugglers to be jailed after they were caught at airports with heroin worth more than £2 million in total.

Naveed was stopped at Leeds Bradford Airport by officers who found 2.5kg of the drug hidden in a holdall.

The heroin was packed into eight sleeves of cigarettes.

A spokesman for Border Force said Naveed was jailed by a judge at Leeds Crown Court on Friday.

He had been found guilty of drug smuggling after a trial earlier this year.

The spokesman said Naveed, 26, from Whetley Lane, Girlington, Bradford, was stopped by Border Force officers at the airport on 27 June after arriving on a flight from Pakistan.

He said two other men connected to Naveed are currently serving sentences after pleading guilty to attempting to smuggle drugs through Manchester Airport.

Mohammed Saddique was arrested in January this after arriving on a flight from Pakistan with a holdall containing 12 sleeves of cigarettes hiding 5.2kg of heroin.

He was jailed for five years and four months at Manchester Crown Court in May.

Sharaz Khan also arrived on a flight from Pakistan. He had a holdall containing 15 sleeves of cigarettes concealing 5.9kg of heroin.

He was sentenced to four years in prison at Manchester Crown Court in September.

The total street value of the drugs seized in these cases is estimated to be more than £2 million.

Pete Avery of Border Force said: "The sentence handed out today sends a strong deterrent message to anyone thinking of smuggling drugs into the UK.

"We have robust controls in place at all our ports and airports. We will catch you and you will pay with your liberty.

"Border Force is at the forefront of the fight to stop drugs, weapons, other contraband and illegal immigrants entering the UK and our officers are on constant alert to keep them out of the country."

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