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| Police seize heroin worth £6.5m http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=25836 |
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| Author: | captain cab [ Sun Dec 21, 2014 3:05 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Police seize heroin worth £6.5m |
Police seize heroin worth £6.5m... found stuffed inside laundry bag in back of minicab Discovery of one of the largest ever drugs hauls has now led to Joseph Salmon and Billal Baig being jailed for a total of 19 years Two men have been jailed after police seized one of the largest single hauls of drugs in the force’s history. Heroin with a street value of £6.5m at a purity of more than 60 per cent was found hidden inside a plastic, laundry-style bag in a private hire minicab. The drugs were destined to be sold on the streets of Greater Manchester but the operation was foiled after officers from Greater Manchester Police’s Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit stopped the minicab, a Mercedes E270, in Mere, near Knutsford. The discovery led police to Joseph Salmon, 37, and Billal Baig, 32, who both appeared before Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court. Salmon, of no fixed address, admitted possessing heroin with intent to supply and was jailed for eight years. Baig, of White Lodge Close, Isleworth, West London, was found guilty after a trial of being concerned with the supply of heroin and jailed for 11 years. Det Insp Lee Griffin, of GMP, said: “This is one of the single biggest recoveries of drugs in the force’s history. "To prevent such vast quantities of drugs, worth millions of pounds, from flooding the streets, is a massive achievement. “In one swoop we put a huge hole in the drugs supply market and the sentence reflects great team work from specialist units across the force.” The minicab was stopped in May and police found 22 wrapped parcels of heroin in the bag. Salmon, who was inside the minicab, and the minicab driver - who was later released without charge - were both arrested. The minicab driver - who lives in London - told police how his friend, later identified as Baig, had asked him to take a fare from Abbey Road Studios in London to Manchester and back. Forensic examination of the driver’s phone uncovered messages between him and Baig. The driver complained that the £400 fare was insufficient and Baig told him that he would sort an extra payment from the ‘main man’, suggesting the pick-up was orchestrated by another person. Baig was arrested weeks later with support from the Metropolitan Police, following numerous enquiries to identify and locate him. He told police he asked the driver to take Salmon on behalf of another person who he did not know the name of. Det Insp Griffin added: “Both Baig and Salmon have failed to provide any proper account or explanation for their actions and while work is ongoing to fully understand who else is might have been involved at either end - in London or Manchester - they have been given long prison sentences. “Put simply we have halted hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of individual street deals from taking place.” source: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ce-8318554 |
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