Transboundary drug trafficking: Pakistani smugglers exploit gaps in British oversight

Islamabad, Dec 29 The case of Sidrah Nosheen, the 34-year-old woman who has been sentenced to 21 years in prison in the United Kingdom for being a part of a gang that smuggled heroin from Pakistan, showcases how transboundary drug trafficking has evolved into a systemic threat, flourishing on gaps in immigration controls, allowing networks to function with a certain level of impunity.

Nosheen was part of an Organised Crime Group (OCG) that smuggled heroin from Pakistan to the UK sold it around the country. She played an important part in the OCG.

"Transboundary drug trafficking has evolved into a systemic threat, thriving on gaps in enforcement and porous immigration controls, letting networks operate with a certain level of impunity. It is an international enterprise, exploiting weaknesses on both ends of the supply chain while societies bear the human and reputational cost. Pakistan finds itself repeatedly implicated, not because its citizens are inherently culpable, but because local facilitators continue to operate unchecked, allowing global networks to flourish," reported The Express Tribune.

The Pakistani daily stated that the case of Nosheen in Bradford Crown Court lays bare the scale and sophistication of these networks.

"Her operation, involving £8.5 million worth of heroin, relied on Pakistani contacts to coordinate shipments while exploiting gaps in British oversight. Drugs were concealed in clothing, household items, and even tools, a chilling reminder that the trade adapts to ordinary life, using procedural blind spots to avoid detection. She is now sentenced to 21 years in prison. The problem is not only overseas. Pakistan's own enforcement apparatus, though active in seizures and arrests, remains reactive," it added.

Nosheen was due to stand trial at Bradford Crown Court. However, she changed her plea and admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and conspiracy to import heroin. She was sentenced in the court on December 23. In a statement, the National Crime Agency (NCA), "Heroin concealed in clothes such as leather jackets was delivered to Nosheen's home in Woodside Road, Wyke, Bradford, where she removed it and put it in 1kg deal bags."

When she was arrested at the property in June 2024, officers discovered her back bedroom had been converted into a heroin processing plant. Officers found 85kg of the Class A drug in various bags along with a wallpaper pasting table, scales, buckets, and tools.

The Express Tribune highlighted that leads traced from foreign investigations are often delayed or halted by bureaucracy in Pakistan. Cartels use these gaps by using methods faster than authorities can respond. Pakistan, it said, must strengthen intelligence-led operations and take action on decisively on leads found from abroad.

"Middlemen and facilitators must be dismantled before consignments leave the country. Coordination with destination countries should be proactive, not ad hoc. Simultaneously, nations like the UK must tighten customs and postal monitoring to block shipments at multiple points rather than relying on post-factum arrests. Pakistan must confront this issue not only for the sake of enforcement but to protect its people and its standing in the world," the report mentioned.

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