Five sentenced for £10m Leicester drugs haul

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-43545739

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Five men who smuggled Class A drugs inside furniture, children's clothes and industrial bolts have been sentenced.

Leicester Crown Court heard more than £10m of cocaine and heroin was seized by police in the biggest ever drugs seizure in Leicestershire.

Det Insp Harry Rai said it had been "a very long and complex investigation" that started in September 2016.

The men were jailed for between 12 and 25 years each.

The investigation began after the Metropolitan Police found Paulvinder Randhawa, 46, of Marsh Way, Wembley, with a box of metal bolts stuffed with heroin.

Det Insp Rai, from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said further shipments of drugs seized in France and Pakistan showed the intent and size of the operation run by the Leicestershire-based gang.

"In my 22 years in policing and 14 years being part of serious and organised crime investigations, I haven't come across anything on this scale," he said.

"Patel and Talib Hussain in particular were not small-time dealers. They were interested in dealing on a large scale and their operations had been going on for some years."

The five men sentenced