UK: Pakistani-origin man jailed for 10 years for supplying drugs

Pakistan-origin British national and drug dealer Aqib Ali has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by Birmingham Crown Court for "operating a county lines network of drugs" in Birmingham and Warwickshire.

29-year-old Ali supplied the drugs on a commercial scale at street level through a county lines network which operated between Birmingham and Warwickshire, according to West Midlands Police.

Aaqib Ali was sentenced to 10 years in prison at Birmingham Crown Court on December 23 on two charges of posessing and supplying Class A drugs.

The Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) acted on information and executed warrants at address linked to him in Aston and Erdington in August.

According to West Midlands Police, Aaqib Ali was the key player in supplying cocaine and heroin on a commercial scale at street level.

Class A drugs were recovered from one of them along with £20,000 in cash and his drugs phone. A substantial amount of cocaine and heroin was found in his car, , according to West Midlands Police.

Analysis of Ali's mobile phone, the police said, showed it had been registered in a false name, with messages proving that he was running a drugs network.

"One message claimed he was making the equivalent of £2,800 a night from selling cocaine alone,the police statement added.

Ali had only been released from prison on licence last December after being convicted of other drug offences and immediately set about returning to his criminal ways.

DC Louise Ford, from the County Lines Taskforce at ROCU, said: "There's no doubt Ali was the one running this significant drugs supply chain. There were vast phone messages which proved he was the kingpin and while he will have recruited others to help, he was the one coordinating it all."

"We're confident we've managed to crush his network and remove a prominent drug dealer from our streets. It also shows that if you return to crime you will be caught again, and face even more time behind bars," Ford added.

( With inputs from ANI )

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