A set of twins who thought their drug empire was 'untouchable' have seen their criminal enterprise collapse - thanks to a Ford Fiesta.
Twin brothers Rohail and Sohail Khan were sourcing bulk amounts of drugs from cross-border areas. An investigation from Lancashire Police - as part of OpWarrior- found that the brothers then cut, bagged and supplied the product, with the assistance of Sohail’s girlfriend, Jade Mendes.
However, the duo were snagged when, in February 2022, Rohail was the passenger in a Ford Fiesta. The car was stopped in Nelson after concerns were raised about the manner in which it was being driven, Lancs Live reports.
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The presence of drugs were detected by a police dog inside the car, which transpired to be 10 wraps of cocaine. Rohail, who was also found in possession of around £500 cash and a mobile phone, was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply cocaine.
Examination of that phone revealed messages detailing arrangements of the purchasing of bulk wholesale amounts of drugs, as well as packaging the drugs and supplying them. Sohail’s name was mentioned within those messages as also being involved in the supply of drugs.
On July 12, a warrant was executed at the home of Mendes in Cardigan Avenue, Burnley, and £8,942 in cash was recovered, as well as drug packaging and two mobile phones.
A mobile phone found under her bed was linked back to Sohail, with calls being diverted to another phone belonging to Sohail if they were not answered. The majority of those calls lasted less than 30 seconds. From July 21 to July 28 10,283 calls were diverted to Sohail’s phone.
Between February 2019 and September 2022, four different mobile telephone numbers were attributed to Sohail. All these numbers had contact with Mendes, discussing packaging, preparing drugs, holding drugs, topping up drugs line and supplying drugs.
Enquiries revealed that Mendes packaged, prepared and stored drugs and money for the OCG and controlled the drugs line.On September 12, an early morning warrant was executed at a property in Fletcher Street, Nelson, and Rohail and Sohail were arrested while they were still in bed.
Recovered from that property was £9,975 in cash, a sword, a balaclava and mobile phones. Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, the defendants were charged and pleaded guilty to the following:
- Rohail Khan, 18/11/1995, of Fletcher Street, Nelson – conspiracy to supply cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to supply and two counts of possession of criminal property. Jailed for six years.
- Sohail Khan, 18/11/1995, of Fletcher Street, Nelson - conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property. Jailed for six years.
- Jade Mendes, 08/09/1991, of Cardigan Avenue, Burnley - conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property. Two-year custodial sentence, suspended for 22 months.
PC Tom Archer, of East Target Crime Team of Lancashire Police, said: "We are committed to pro-actively targeting OCGs who seek to profit from the misery of others and bring violence to our communities. The Khan brothers and Mendes thought they were untouchable in the community.
"I hope their convictions and sentences show that nobody is untouchable and if you engage in serious and organised crime you should expect an early knock at the door from Lancashire Police."
A force spokesperson added: "#OpWarrior is our response to tackling serious and organised crime in Lancashire and delivering on Police and Crime Commissioner Andrew Snowden's Fighting Crime Plan priority of disrupting and dismantling organised crime. If you are aware of illegal activity report it to us online via https://doitonline.lancashire.police.uk/ or call 101."
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