A 'leading light' in a gang which supplied guns and drugs across Greater Manchester planned to make so much money he'd be 'set up for life', a court heard.
Mohammed Shahid was described as a 'key facilitator' in a Cheetham Hill -based organised crime group which trafficked firearms and 'wholesale amounts' of heroin and cocaine. In March 2020, during the early days of the UK's coronavirus lockdown, Shahid helped arrange for a courier to deliver six firearms and 180 rounds of ammunition to Luton.
But the gang's activities were uncovered when police hacked the EncroChat encrypted messaging service, a secretive phone network favoured by organised crime, Manchester Crown Court heard.
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Shahid, 30, used the EncroChat handle 'Driphard', prosecutor Alex Langhorn said, and over an eight month period from March to December 2020 sent dozens of messages discussing the trafficking of heroin, cocaine and guns. Several EncroChat conversations between Shahid, his co-accused Tareanio Blake, who went by 'Lemursea', and an unidentified figure known only by the handle 'Mocky' were read out in court.
On March 27, 2020 they discussed paying £10,000 to have a female they feared might be about to inform on them 'whacked', the court heard. On March 30 the delivery of a firearm to Bolton for a fee of £500 was discussed alongside a password which would be given at the handover.
On April 19 the collection of a kilo of heroin from a hotel in Sale was arranged, while on May 11 the transfer of 1.35kg of heroin from an address in Oldham was discussed. Shahid was arrested in Crumpsall on December 11, 2020, after police managed to crack the EncroChat encryption.
The court heard the amount of money Shahid made from trafficking was 'hard to discern', but he was said to have bragged about how it would 'set him up for life' and told how he planned to buy his own house 'within a year or two'.
In total Shahid admitted being involved in the supply of 4.5kg of heroin, around 9.5kg of cocaine plus 10 firearms and ammunition. At an earlier hearing he pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and one count conspiring to sell or transfer firearms. He also admitted a charge of possessing cannabis with intent to supply after 119g of the drug were found at his home.
Before sentencing a letter written by Shahid was read by the judge. Richard Simons, defending, said it expressed Shahid's 'genuine regret, remorse and apology'.
Mr Simons added it was Shahid's 'stated intention to change his behaviour upon release and not return to the activities that have brought him before the court'. Mr Simons also disputed the prosecution’s description of Shahid as a 'key facilitator', saying instead he held a 'lesser role' in the overall conspiracy.
Judge Patrick Field said that while Shahid was a 'leading light' in a 'substantial criminal enterprise', he accepted he was 'subordinate' to Blake and 'Mocky'. Judge Field added: "You used your Encrochat device to arrange the trafficking of large quantities of class A drugs on the wholesale market to other dealers and also arranged the sale of a proportion of those drugs via a drugs line.
"The more sinister side of the business was the transfer of firearms which you kept in safe houses then arranged to be moved on the direction of others, particularly 'Mocky'... You regarded this business as being likely to set you up for life and explained that you would be able to buy your own house within a year or two.
"That is indicative that the rewards were substantial."
Shahid, of Peakdale Avenue, Crumpsall, was jailed for 12 years and nine months. Blake, 30, also of Peakdale Avenue, Crumpsall will be sentenced on February 14 next year, after being found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and one count conspiring to sell or transfer firearms.
In June Blake's girlfriend, 27-year-old former nightclub hostess Holly Caldwell, was jailed for seven years after she drove the haul of weapons to Luton. Caldwell, of King Edward Road, St Helens, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and possession of a prohibited weapon
Another courier for the gang, Ali Hamza, 23, Whiston Road, Crumpsall, was jailed for nine years after he pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs, two counts of possessing a prohibited weapon and one count of possessing criminal property.
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