A drugs kingpin has been jailed for 12 years for trying to smuggle £1.9 million-worth of high-grade heroin into Britain inside a chapati oven
Kulwinder El Assad, 40, attempted to to import the heroin from Islamabad with the help of Arbab Akhtar, 29, from Blackburn and Mohammed Aslam Khan, 61, from Ashton-Under-Lyne.
The National Crime Agency said 29lbs (13kg) of drugs were found inside an unclaimed package from Islamabad in Pakistan on a luggage carousel at Leeds Bradford Airport in March.
A day later Khan and El Assad were arrested at the airport by the NCA when they arrived to pick up the parcel.
El Assad had played a key role in the operation, having been in touch with the people the gang had sourced the drugs from in Pakistan.
She was found guilty of conspiring to import Class A drugs after a four day trial at Leeds Crown Court, while Akhtar and Khan were jailed for eight and six year terms after admitting to their roles in the conspiracy.
During police interviews Khan, who arrived on the same flight as the parcel, said he had travelled to Pakistan to visit a dying relative. Officers said his ticket had been paid for by Akhtar.
Using phone evidence, police found Akhtar had driven to Ashton-Under-Lyne to collect Khan, taken him to Blackburn to get his ticket and then dropped him off at the airport.
NCA senior investigating officer Mick Maloney said: “These three individuals were involved in an international conspiracy to source class A drugs worth almost £2 million and bring them back to the UK.
"I’ve no doubt that had they not been stopped the heroin would have ended up being sold on UK streets.
“A lot of work had gone into this concealment which tells me they were part of a professional drug trafficking crime network.
“All three played key roles. Kulwinder El Assad was in touch with those they sourced the drugs from in Pakistan. Akhtar was the logistics man who made all the travel arrangements and was in regular contact with the others, while Khan was the courier."
