A MAN from Oldham had 'a leading role' in a drugs gang responsible for supplying more than 100kg of class A drugs to cities across the country.
Faizal Hussain, of Cranbrook Street, was sentenced alongside his accomplice Rezwan Javed at Manchester Crown Court today (April 20).
The pair were caught by GMP's Serious and Organised Crime Group thanks to messages exchanged on EncroChat after the secretive communications network was taken down in June 2020.
Detectives trawled through these messages and discovered the drugs gang was involved in sourcing, storing and transporting cocaine and heroin to be sold in Greater Manchester, as well as in Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool.
They arrested Hussain and Javed, as well as two others, and also seized a sizeable amount of class A drugs from an address in Greater Manchester.
Overall, detectives discovered evidence of the drugs gang sourcing, storing and transporting more than 100kg of cocaine with a value of around £2 million, plus 14kg of heroin with a value of between £160,000 and £350,000.
Manchester Crown Court heard how Hussain was responsible for logistics and management at a regional level and was also involved in the collection and delivery of drugs.
The 31-year-old was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
While Javed, 45, of Meadow Close in Burnley, was involved in the transportation of drugs and did not have an EncroChat device of his own. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
After the sentence, Detective Constable Marc Walby, of GMP's Serious and Organised Crime Group, said: "This gang thought they were able to avoid detection by using these devices.
"However they have instead presented us with a treasure trove of evidence that has enabled us to take this criminal group and their illicit enterprise off our streets and away from society.
"The quantities of drugs we are talking about here are beyond substantial and the removal of these individuals will have a tangible difference on the streets of Oldham and beyond as copious amounts of class A drugs will not be orchestrated across towns and cities around the region and beyond."
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