A cocaine dealer “fought tooth and nail” in a failed attempt to stop his extradition from the Netherlands to face justice in Merseyside.
Behnam Tavakoli-Juibari was responsible for tracking the sale of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine through England, Scotland and Wales in a huge conspiracy run from the Wirral. He was jailed for 15 years on Friday after a judge said his position, which included keeping detailed accounts of the gang’s finances in notebooks, meant he was a crucial part of the plot’s short term success.
The group, which included eight other members who were jailed back in 2018, focused on the supply of cocaine to all corners of Britain but also saw them move large quantities of heroin and MDMA during the first half of 2016. Officers who raided a Wirral address used by the gang in July of that year found a £1.4m stash including more than 9kg of cocaine, 7kg of unadulterated heroin, 10,000 MDMA pills and 11,000 diazepam tablets.
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They also uncovered multiple “ledgers”, notebooks used primarily by Tavakoli-Juibari to track the group’s finances. Tavakoli-Juibari had left the UK by the time the other gang members were arrested and was later arrested by officers in the Netherlands.
He then spent more than six months battling to stop himself from being extradited after his arrest and even longer in Britain denying his involvement in the scheme. The 37 year old’s efforts, which can be reported for the first time after a judge lifted reporting restrictions, were one of a series of delays which meant he was only sentenced this week for crimes committed in the first half of 2016.
Martin Reid, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that Tavakoli-Juibari spent a total of 199 days in the Netherlands. He was finally brought back to Britain after attempts to convince a court in Amsterdam to block his deportation failed.
He continued to protest his innocence, entering not guilty pleas in his first court appearances. Tavakoli-Juibari was first held on remand in jail here in the UK but was bailed after a judge refused to extend the period he could be held in prison without being convicted.
Instead, Tavakoli-Juibari was subjected to strict electronic monitoring while living at his Wallasey home. Covid and other delays then forced a planned trial to be adjourned four times before Tavakoli-Juibari finally admitted his guilt at a hearing on April 6 this year.
He did so on the basis that prosecutors accept his role in the scheme was limited after he left the UK in April 2016, though Mr Reid told the court there was evidence of Tavakoli-Juibari was still in communication with upstream cocaine suppliers in Europe after that point. Amy Goodall, QC, defending, told Judge Neil Flewitt, QC, Tavakoli-Juibari now felt remorse for his actions, something Judge Flewitt said was hard to believe given his efforts to avoid justice.
He said: “I am struggling with remorse when he has fought tooth and nail at every turn over the past few years to avoid sentencing.” Ms Goodall said: “Remorse can be an evolving concept.” Judge Flewitt replied: “It can be a suddenly emerging one in some circumstances.”
Tavakoli-Juibari, of Woodland Drive, was jailed for 15 years. There will be a reduction to that sentence to take into account the period he spent both on electronically monitored bail and being held on remand in the UK and the Netherlands.
