Two brothers, who supplied over one tonne of cocaine cutting agents to large-scale dealers who sold up to £90m worth of the drug, have been jailed.
Saleh Ahmed, 29, (pic.top) and Siddique Ahmed, 23, (pic.bottom) both of Herbert House, Old Castle Street, Whitechapel supplied the chemicals via a company they created.
Saleh received five years-and-seven months and Siddique three years at Snaresbrook Crown Court for committing an act capable of assisting the commission of an indictable offence, namely drug supply.
Whilst cash seized from the Ahmeds was found to be heavily contaminated with cocaine, no actual controlled drugs were seized.
The jury heard that the brothers formed a company, Simply Benzo Limited, that sold benzocaine (an anaesthetic), phenacetin (a painkiller) and procaine (an anaesthetic), as well as other chemicals via the Internet.
Saleh also sold cutting agents from his car.
Following information provided by the Serious Organised Crime Agency Project Kitley, the Met
investigation, named Operation Amo, took action on March 29, last year.
On that date officers from the London Regional Asset Recovery Team (LRART), part of the Specialist and Economic Crime Command, supported by units from the Territorial Support Group, executed a series of search warrants.
At the Ahmeds’ home 38kg of cutting agent were found plus a further 213kg of cutting agent at a rented storage facility.
A 1kg-measuring jug and a large quantity of self-seal bags were also recovered.
The chemicals, in powder form, were imported by the Ahmeds from China.
Saleh had earlier admitted that he had possibly sold cutting agent to drug dealers, but insisted that he supplied the bulk of it for legitimate medical uses in the UK and overseas.
Extensive enquiries with the pharmaceutical and medical supply industries showed that there was no legitimate commercial use for the chemicals in the form the Ahmeds sold them in.
Analysis of sales made, often using PayPal to receive payment from Internet sales, showed that the cutting agents were supplied to customers across the UK and as far away as the United States.
At least 900kg of cutting agent, in addition to that seized, had been sold by the Ahmeds before their arrests.
A confiscation investigation is now underway to recover the profits made by the Ahmeds.
The officer in the case, DC Steve Everson, of the Economic and Specialist Crime Command, said: “This conviction and sentence serves as a stark warning to those thinking of starting a trade in these types of products outside the pharmaceutical industry.
“In their raw form, they are destined for one purpose only, the illegal drugs trade.
“The London RART and its partner agencies will actively pursue those involved in this trade.”
DI Jeremy Tizard, Head of the London RART, said: “The overwhelming evidence showed that the brothers knew they were supplying cutting and bulking agents to be used in the supply of cocaine.
“Whilst the chemicals imported, in a prepared form, have some legitimate medical uses, pharmaceutical manufacturers were never going to buy 1kg bags of raw powder from an unlicensed dealer operating from a storage facility.
“The sheer scale of the activity is staggering. They imported more than one tonne of cutting agents over a two year period which, mixed at a conservative ratio, assisted in the production of 1800kg of street level cocaine valued at least £90 million.
“Whilst neither brother was ever involved in the physical sale of cocaine, their ability to source and import cutting agents in these quantities contributed hugely to the drug trade in London and beyond.”
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