Drugs gang who imported £165m of cocaine into UK jailed for 170 years

East Midlands gang who used encrypted criminal phone network to import £165m of cocaine into UK jailed for 170 years
A gang who imported more than £165m of cocaine into the country have been jailed for a total of 170 years.
An investigation by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) revealed the 21 strong group was led by Paldip Mahngar who organised in the region of 100kg of high-purity cocaine from his unassuming terraced house in Willow Close, Darley Abbey.
The 45-year-old used an encrypted EncroChat phone to order multiple kilos of the drug from contacts in Dubai - which was then distributed across the country by Jaswant Kajla.
From his home in Bluebird Drive, Coventry, Kajla organised the logistics of moving the drugs, along with the collecting of money from the gang’s customers.
The 41-year-old ensured that those delivering the cocaine had well-rehearsed cover stories as couriers who could deny their knowledge of the drugs they were delivering.
The money collected was dealt with by Manraj Johal - the gang’s accountant. The 32-year-old kept detailed Excel spreadsheets that showed the incomings, outgoings, and expenses of the gang.
Using another encrypted phone Johal, of Turnpike Drive, Luton, would then contact the upstream suppliers of the drugs to update them about how much money was being made.
The gang had two “offices” in Luton and Derby where millions of pounds flowed through from their cocaine sales - with an estimated £18.6m being made by the gang between 16 March and 30 April 2020, a daily total of £400k which officers used to estimate the gang’s total earnings over the 408 day conspiracy to be a staggering £165,208,208.
The Derby office was run by the last top-level member of the gang Manvir Singh (also known as Manveer Khakh). The 33-year-old was responsible for counting, bundling, vacuum packing and then assigning an individual token number to each of the bundles of cash.
Singh, of Harpur Avenue, Derby, would then meet with couriers who would move the cash to other gang members around the country.
The four leading members of the gang - Mahngar, Singh, Johal and Bahia - travelled to Dubai to meet their contacts bragging that the person they were visiting was on a “mil a week” and wearing a £110k watch while spending £37k in a club on a Thursday night.
The investigation into the gang’s exploits was well underway when detectives were supplied with further evidence of their criminality after the secure EncroChat phone system the gang were using was taken down. The system, which was used by criminals across the world, was infiltrated by law enforcement in Europe who then passed the information to UK authorities.
The information gleaned from the messages allowed officers to target the gang and intercept 7kg of cocaine being transported in Derby in April 2020. The couriering of the drugs had been organised by Kajla, who sent gang member Basharat Iqbal to pick up the drugs. When Iqbal’s home was searched, he was found to have £20,000 in £1,000 bundles in a locked tin - and 3kg of cocaine in a wardrobe.
And the extent of the cash being turned over was shown even more starkly when, during further warrants in June 2020, officers found money counter Nimrat Bahia mid-way through bundling £530k at an apartment in London.
The other members of the gang helped move the drugs and money around the country:
The Couriers - Ranjit Sandhu, Basharat Iqbal, Banaras Iqbal, and Tyrone Gibbons.
The Cash Counters - John Castledine and Adil Saddique.
With the drugs being purchased by wholesale customers, with the following people buying the cocaine by the kilo:
The Customers - Michael Karim, Kelly Williamson, Nathaniel Collymore, Narinderpal Sahota, Mohammad Shafiq and Joseph Davidson.
Further evidence discovered by officers showed that four of the men were also involved in the supply of heroin between January and February 2020. Shimei Connell and Joseph Davidson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to supply heroin - while Marvin Johnson and Jermaine Callender were found guilty at trial.