Jailed: 10-man gang who smuggled drugs around the country in raw chicken and stashed tyres with cash

Police seized 400kg of cocaine as well as £1.6 million in cash as investigators brought down the drug supply chain, which was run with the help of 10 men.

Some of the illegal cash recovered by officers was found stashed in vehicle tyres and in industrial machinery inside vans disguised as mechanical service vehicles.

A total of 225kg of cocaine destined for export to Australia which had been stored at a warehouse in Sutton Coldfield was also seized by police.

The gang communicated with each other using the Encrochat platform, an encrypted messaging app which criminals believed couldn't be accessed by law enforcers, which was shut down as part of a huge UK-wide operation.

The messages discussed the logistics, management and delivery of up to a tonne of cocaine and large amounts of criminal cash – believed to be over £10m – being collected or delivered nationally.

Two of the men in the gang, Maninder Dosanjh and Amandeep Rishi, were arrested in Birmingham when police stopped the van they were travelling in back from docks in Essex.

Alongside making the arrests, officers seized more than 150kg of cocaine found hidden in frozen chicken produce.

Others who were part of the smuggling enterprise were arrested after Mohammed Usman collected wheels and tyres in the West Midlands before driving to London where they were passed to Sayed Hasheman in a residential street.

When the tyres were cut open they were found to contain just short of £500,000 in cash.

On another occasion, just over £1m cash was recovered from a concealed compartment of an air compressor in another of the gang's vans which was stopped by officers.

Within a 10-day period in July 2020 the 10 men, who lived in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Walsall, South Staffordshire and London, were arrested.

The gang members pleaded guilty to the offences between March 30, 2020, and August 13, 2020, and were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court this week. (August 20)

Det Chf Insp Pete Cooke from the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: "This far-reaching investigation covered the importation, exportation and wholesale national supply of cocaine and money laundering.

"We were able to expose the gangs' activities which were both sophisticated and on a commercial scale, with them using a network of highly trusted individuals and a fleet of vehicles with hidden compartments.

"We believe they were responsible for importing hundreds of kilos of cocaine, estimated to be over a tonne resulting in them making huge sums of cash, thought to be over £10m.

"But all this enterprise was illegal and was putting large quantities of drugs, which we know destroy many lives and blight many communities, on to streets both here in the UK and overseas.

"Our teams were able to trace the activity, identify the criminals and ultimately put them behind bars with considerable jail terms."

Full list of the offenders jailed

For conspiracy to supply class A drugs, money laundering and conspiracy to fraudulently evade the prohibition on the exportation of Class A drugs:

• Maninder Dosanjh, 39 of of Bramwell Drive, Cheslyn Hay, Staffordshire - jailed for 16 years and eight months

• Amandeep Rishi, 42, of Alexander Gardens, Perry Barr, Birmingham - 11 years and two months

• Mohammad Usman, 29, of Birch Street, Oldbury - nine years and eight months

• Rizwan Ali, 34, of Basons Lane, Sandwell - nine years and six months

• Kamran Hussain, 34 of High Street, Harborne, Birmingham - nine years and two months

For conspiracy to supply Class A Drugs and money laundering:

• Peter Masih, 44 of Laurel Lane, Halesowen - eight years

• Mandeep Singh, 42 of Bhylls Lane, Wolverhampton - seven years and two months

• Mithab Hussain, 31, of Sedgeley Road East, Sandwell - seven years and two months

For money laundering:

• Ashtiaq Ahmed, 45, of Hawes Road, Walsall - two years and seven months

• Sayeed Hashemyan, 38, of Fernhead Road, Maida Vale, London - two years and three months