A dad who smuggled £22 million worth of heroin into the UK from Pakistan hidden inside boxes of plastic shopping bags has been jailed for 20 years. Dopey Arfan Mirza, 42, was caught after he recorded footage of himself testing the purity of the class-A drugs in his own kitchen as part of a 'publicity video'.
A court heard the footage acted as an advert for potential street dealers after he imported 220 kilos of heroin into the country from Pakistan. The dad-of-four headed up the the massive drug smuggling operation which saw consignments disguised as shopping bags and sports goods.
But Mirza was rumbled when two 20 kilo packages were intercepted at Heathrow Airport by Border Force officials in February 2020. An investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) found he was behind the importation of 30 similar consignments from March 2019 onwards.
Officers also probed Mirza’s phone data and business records held by courier companies and found videos on his mobile of him testing the purity of the heroin. A search of his home in Washwood Heath, Birmingham, found parts of the carrier bags which had been used as a cover load.
Mobile phones and SIM cards were also recovered and the numbers were linked to contact details on the consignments. In interviews, Mirza claimed an unknown person agreed to reduce his gambling debts by £1,000 if he allowed a parcel to be delivered to his house.
NCA analysts believe he imported a total of 220 kilos of heroin between March 2019 and February 2020 with a potential street value of £22 million. Mirza was arrested in February 2020 for conspiring to import controlled substances into the UK.
During his trial, Mirza admitted his involvement in the offences and that previous parcels had included heroin. He also admitted collecting the drugs and then forwarding them on to others involved in the supply chain.
He was convicted on Thursday (February 16) following a seven week trial at Birmingham Crown Court and was today (Friday) jailed for 20 years. Judge Heidi Kubik KC described Mirza as head of the drugs operation in the UK, and said he had played a pivotal role in the success of the illegal activity.
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She described Mirza’s lack of remorse and said he had only provided a self-serving account into how he became involved. NCA operations manager Rick Mackenzie said after the case: “Mirza concocted a determined and sophisticated plot to smuggle huge quantities of this dangerous class A drug into the UK, starting with dummy deliveries in an attempt to ensure his efforts would be successful.
“At various points in his trial, Mirza has belligerently insisted this was a victimless crime, but importations like these fuel the criminal exploitation of young people through county lines as well as gang-related violence impacting communities in the UK. The NCA works relentlessly in the UK and around the world to protect the public from serious and organised crime.”
Katherine Wilson, regional director at Border Force Heathrow, added: “Thanks to the brilliant work by Border Force Officers at Heathrow, these dangerous drugs were stopped from infiltrating our communities.
"This seizure, and others like it, highlight our determination to tackle the illegal drug trade and together with the NCA and partners, we will continue to protect our borders from those who seek to cause harm.”
