A GANG of men from Bradford and Keighley who conspired to supply cash and drugs worth more than £1 million have been jailed for a total of nearly 25 years.

Mudasar Iqbal, 32, of Devonshire Street, Keighley, became the final man to be sentenced today under Operation Rap, organised by the Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit.

As reported in today's Telegraph & Argus, ringleader Shafiqul Ali, 34, of St George’s Place, Little Horton, Bradford, was sentenced to six years for his role in the plot, which involved transporting class A and B drugs in and out of the Bradford district from areas such as Oxfordshire.

Zaheer Bashir, 37, of Horton Grange Road, Bradford, was jailed for four years, while Ali Hussain, 27, of Tivoli Place, Bradford, was sentenced to three years and four months.

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Ahmed Fraz, aged 25, of Giles Street, Bradford, received a 12-month community order, and Iqbal, was jailed for ten months, suspended for a year, with 250 hours of unpaid work.

Joseph Byrne, 41, of Pasture Walk, Bradford, was jailed for six years and eight months at Bradford Crown Court in August last year, and Gareth Windsor, 38, of Beacon Road, Bradford, was sentenced to three years and nine months at Warwick Crown Court.

The plot was uncovered by police on June 9 last year, when officers stopped a VW Golf car in Manchester and arrested Fraz and two other men on suspicion of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs.

Officers also seized £60,000 in cash from a search of the vehicle.

The following day, police stopped a Renault Kangoo van at Tamworth Services in Staffordshire.

A search of the vehicle revealed a quantity of cannabis bush, said to be worth around £250,000, which had been vacuum-packed and stored in cardboard boxes.

This was seized and the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, Windsor, was later charged with possession offences.

On July 23 last year, police stopped a black Mercedes car on the M1 in West Yorkshire and recovered four large blocks of what was later found to be cocaine.

Its three occupants included Byrne, who pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

On July 29, Bashir was stopped in a Toyota Yaris in the Clayton area of Bradford.

A search of the vehicle revealed a carrier bag which was found to contain a quantity of heroin with an estimated street value of £49,000.

He was arrested and later charged with conspiracy to supply cannabis, heroin and cocaine, as well as a further charge of money laundering.

Communications work led to Ali and Hussain being identified as suspects and both men were charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Ali was also charged with conspiracy to supply cannabis.

Speaking after Iqbal’s sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Jack Walker, of the Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: "This Bradford-based crime group were involved in the UK-wide trafficking of class A and B drugs.

"Their imprisonment demonstrates the success that forces in the Yorkshire and Humber region, alongside partners, are having in terms of tackling those involved in the drugs trade."