Welsh town flooded with drugs worth more than £400,000 by 'sophisticated' gang

Toana Ahmad, Saman Aziz, Muhammed Hamasharif, Barzan Sarhan, Ahmed Piro, Adel Mustafa, Karwan Karim, Akasha Smith, Walid Abdal, Luqman Jarjis, Kastro Omar, and Daban Khalil
-Credit: (Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)


A Welsh town was flooded with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drugs, by an organised crime gang, a court has heard. The gang used businesses including barbers and car washes as "fronts" for their criminal actions and moved recruits around the UK to "embed" them in Aberystwyth, where they dealt cocaine and cannabis.

The drug conspiracy value was estimated at more than £400,000 with just one of the gang's couriers - a taxi driver - believed to have transported some 3kg of cocaine into the seaside town during the course of dozens of trips, reports WalesOnline.

Sending 12 members of the gang to prison a judge said it was "particularly sad" that one of the ringleaders of the crime group had fled Iraq and been given leave to remain in the UK and had chosen to repay the country by engaging in serious criminal conduct.

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Swansea Crown Court heard the organised crime group was running a county lines-type model utilising four different drugs phones to connect with customers and using multiple properties and guesthouses as bases in the town as well as a network of trusted couriers. Ian Wright, prosecuting, said the gang ran a "sophisticated, well-organised and evolving operation" to traffic significant quantities of cocaine and cannabis into Aberystwyth.

He said the conspiracy - which was based in Swansea and Birmingham - involved "embedding" trusted operatives in the town and using couriers, including a taxi driver, to transport drugs, cash and people to and from mid Wales. The court heard the cocaine-dealing element of the operation lasted a year and it evolved over time as the gang tried to evade detection.

At various times they used three different properties in Aberystwyth - on Terrace Road, Alexander Road, and Parc Graig Glas - as operational bases and safe houses as well as booking rooms in guesthouses and hotels in a bid to stay one step ahead of the law. They would also deal to users from vehicles.

The gang "embedded" trusted personnel in Aberystwyth who were driven to and from the town from as far a field as Newcastle and Northampton and put to work as distributors as dealers. Some of the dealers operated in the town for a matter of days or weeks before being replaced while others spent months there.

The gang also recruited two local women living in the town to work in the conspiracy, with one being told that the "boss man was looking for a girl" to transport drugs from Birmingham to Aberystwyth for a payment of £200 per time. The operation was run by 33-year-old Toana Ahmad from the West Midlands along with two men identified by police but currently on the run.

The fugitives are believed to have left the UK and are thought to be in Iraq. The trio at the top had a trusted network of people below them who acted as couriers, dealers and fixers on the ground.

Police custody pictures of Toana Ahmad, Saman Aziz and Muhammed Hamasharif
(L-R) Toana Ahmad, Saman Aziz and Muhammed Hamasharif -Credit:Dyfed-Powys Police
Police custody pictures of Barzan Sarhan, Ahmed Piro, and Adel Mustafa
(L-R) Barzan Sarhan, Ahmed Piro, and Adel Mustafa -Credit:Dyfed-Powys Police

The prosecutor said drugs, cash and people were transported to and from Aberystwyth by a variety of means including private cars, trains and taxis. The court heard examples of two instances when cars were intercepted by police during their investigation into the gang.

On consecutive days in June 2023, two cars were stopped heading to Aberystwyth and one was found to have a stash of 82g of high purity cocaine divided into 169 grip-seal bags contained in a sock concealed in the engine compartment, while the second had 167 bags of high-purity cocaine hidden in the A-pillar of the vehicle. The prosecutor said as an illustration of the scale of the operation one of the couriers, a taxi driver from the West Midlands, made no fewer that 37 return journeys to Aberystwyth carrying an estimated total of around 3kg of cocaine which would have been worth some £300,000.

The court heard the gang operated four drugs phone lines which were used to send out bulk text messages to potential customers and to take requests from users. The drug phones themselves usually stayed in Swansea or the West Midlands and when orders were received the operatives in Aberystwyth would be contacted and dispatched to deliver the drugs and collect payment.

police custody pictures of Karwan Karim, Akasha Smith and Walid Abdal
(L-R) Karwan Karim, Akasha Smith and Walid Abdal -Credit:Dyfed-Powys Police
Police custody pictures of  Luqman Jarjis, Kastro Omar, and Daban Khalil
(L-R) Luqman Jarjis, Kastro Omar, and Daban Khalil -Credit:Dyfed-Powys Police

The gang was eventually dismantled following a major investigation by Dyfed-Powys Police codenamed Operation Burleigh which saw significant quantities of cocaine and cannabis seized along with cash and weapons including knives, an axe, and air weapons. The court heard the axe was found casually hanging on a coat hook in the hallway of one of the gang's safe houses.

While many of the defendants were arrested in and around Aberystwyth some were arrested in the West Midlands - including at a hotel housing asylum seekers - another was picked up at Gatwick Airport with a one-way ticket to Vienna, and another was detained after being found in a small boat after having apparently fled the country following his initial arrest.

In the dock were:

  • Toana Ahmad, aged 33, of Lee Gardens, Smethwick, West Midlands

  • Karwan Karim, aged 39 of Griffith John Street, Dyfatty, Swansea

  • Adel Mustafa, aged 39, of Hubert Road, Newport

  • Barzan Sarhan, aged 31, of no fixed abode

  • Ahmed Piro, aged 26, of no fixed abode

  • Daban Khalil, aged 23, of Streetly Road, Erdington, Birmingham

  • Kastro Omar, aged 30, of Junction Road, Northampton

  • Walid Younis Abdal, aged 34, of St Anne’s Road, Doncaster

  • Saman Aziz, aged 41, of Kirk Road, Liverpool

  • Charlotte Roberts, aged 21, of Sutton Hill, Telford, Shropshire

  • Akasha Smith, aged 24, of Third Avenue, Aberystwyth

  • Luqman Jarjis, aged 21, of Wake Green Road, Birmingham

  • Muhammed Hamasharif, aged 27, of no fixed abode

All the defendants had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs or had been convicted at trial when they retuned to the dock to be sentenced. They were joined in the dock by Kurdish language translators who assisted with the hearing.

Picture of an axe hanging from a clothes hook in a hallway
Police found a large axe hanging in the hallway of one of the safe houses used by the organised crime group -Credit:Dyfed-Powys Police

Giles Hayes, for Ahmad, said the Iraqi national had come to the UK in 2005 and claimed asylum, and had been given indefinite leave to remain. He said the father-of-two had worked legitimately for long periods in the UK before becoming involved in the conspiracy out of a financial motivation.

Mr Hayes also represented the defendant Jarjis and said his client left Iraq as a child and lived in a Unicef camp in Greece before moving through Albania, Serbia, and Germany and then into France where he found himself in a detention camp in Calais without his family. He said the defendant subsequently crossed the Channel and found himself in detention again before being sent to Birmingham where there was a large Iraqi-Kurdish community. He said the teenager began mixing with older people in the community and later found himself being sent to Aberystwyth as part of the conspiracy.

Kate Williams, for Piro, said her client had only been in the UK for a short time before being taken to Aberystwyth, and after a short period in the town had returned to the asylum hotel where he was subsequently arrested.

Picture of an air pistol and wraps of cocaine
Operation Burleigh targeted an organised crime group trafficking cocaine and cannabis into Aberystwyth

Miss Williams also represented Karim and said the defendant came to the UK some 13 years ago and had been given leave to remain. She said he had worked in car washes in Swansea for a number of years and at the time he was taken to Aberystwyth was a heavy user of drugs and was in debt. She added that her client wished to apologise to the court.

James Hartson, for Abdal, said his client arrived in the UK unlawfully in 2020 and said he had been candid in saying he had not been exploited but had become involved in the drugs operation for the financial rewards. He said Abdal had been put to work as a street dealer and that his involvement had lasted some five days.

Jon Tarrant, for Sarhan, said his client had come to the UK in 2019 and he had no family in the county. He said the defendant had been involved in the conspiracy for less than two weeks and had been acting under instruction.

Ashanti-Jade Walton, for Khalil, said the defendant had been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK and had been working as a warehouse operative and living a "simple but happy life" with his partner before making some "foolish decisions". She said they were her instructions that the defendant had gone to Aberystwyth after being asked to work in a car wash - though the court heard that assertion was not accepted by the prosecution.

Richard Ace, for Omar, said the defendant had been working for the Chevron oil company in northern Iraq before an incident involving "some kind of honour killing" led to his family having to leave the country. He said his client crossed into Turkey and from there made his way across Europe by lorry before entering the UK in 2017 or 2018 where he sought asylum. He said while there was a "level of exploitation" in the defendant's case it was accepted his client had known what he was doing when he got involved in the conspiracy.

Harry Baker, for Mustafa, said the defendant was a married man who had lived in the UK for 13 years without getting into trouble. He said his client had instructed him to apologise for his involvement in the conspiracy.

Matthew Roberts, for Hamasharif, said his client was an Iraqi national who had come to the UK, and said his involvement in the conspiracy lasted for around a week-and-a-half. He described the defendant as a "man of straw used by those higher up the chain".

Dyfed Thomas, for Smith, said his client grew up in Carmarthen before moving to Essex with her family and then relocating to Aberystwyth where she met and began a relationship with the co-defendant Jarjis - he said it was Jarjis who invited her to join the conspiracy. He said his client has a four-year-old child.

Counsel for Aziz said his client had been granted asylum in the UK and had married a British woman with whom he had two children. He said the defendant was remorseful for his actions.

Hannah George, for Roberts, said her client had worked in a pharmacy before losing her job when the pandemic struck and had then volunteered at a Covid testing centre and had delivered medication in the community. She said at the time of the offending Roberts' mental health had "spiralled" and she was taking cannabis following the breakdown in her parents' relationship, and she invited the court to find her involvement in the conspiracy - which amounted to four days - was out of character. The barrister said in October last year the defendant gave birth to a daughter, and she said in her submission a sentence of immediate custody would have a significant impact on the infant.

Picture of a black air pistol
One of the air weapons seized by police from the gang -Credit:Dyfed-Powys Police

Judge Geraint Walters described Class A drugs as a "blight" on the seaside and university community of Aberystwyth. He said each of the defendants had "actively and enthusiastically" played their different parts in the conspiracy to traffick substantial quantities of cocaine and cannabis into the town where there seemed to be an "insatiable appetite" for the drugs, particularly amongst "incomers".

He said it was clear from everything he had read and from the evidence he had heard during a number of trials that the conspiracy had been a sophisticated county lines operation deploying a number of different tactics and which had evolved over time, with the cocaine element of the conspiracy running for a year and the cannabis element running for some five months. He said he noticed a "theme" emerge in the evidence of "outwardly honest businesses" such as car washes and barber shops connected to the conspiracy which had provided a "front for illegal activity".

Judge Walters said it was significant that only one of the three identified heads of the operation was before the court - Ahmad - with the other two apparently having left the country and likely gone to Iraq. He said it was "particularly sad" that having "fled difficult conditions" in Iraq and been given asylum in the UK Ahmad had "repaid that by engaging in serious criminal activity".

Gang leader Ahmad, who was convicted at trial and therefore had no credit for guilty pleas, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and made the subject of a serious crime prevention order which will run for five years upon his release from custody. Sarhan and Piro, who were also convicted at trial, were each sentenced to four years in prison. Karim, who pleaded guilty on the third day of his trial, received no discount for his plea and was also sentenced to four years.

With discounts for their guilty pleas Abdal, Khalil, Omar, Hamasharif, and Aziz were each sentenced to three years in prison, Jarjis to four years and three months, Mustafa to three years and four months, and Smith to two-and-a-half years. With a discount for her guilty plea Roberts was sentenced to 18 months in prison suspended for two years and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course.

The judge said Roberts had been lucky to be granted bail following her guilty plea - bail which he said he would not have granted had the application come before him - but the result was she had spent 240 days on a qualifying tag which equated to 120 days in custody. He said Roberts deserved custody and he told her that "every bone in my body says you should go to prison" but he said her infant did not deserve it, and the fact she was breast-feeding her child had saved her from going straight to prison.

The judge said the immigration status of defendants where applicable was a matter for the Home Office to determine in due course. The two further defendants involved in the conspiracy will be sentenced in October.

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