Luton dealer faces 'lengthy' jail sentence after conspiring to import drugs worth £360 million

Picture of blocks of heroin sent to Razaq by a suspected supplier in Turkey. Picture: Eastern Region Special Operations Unit

He was responsible for sourcing drugs and running the gang’s logistics

A Luton gang member has been convicted after he conspired to bring more than £360 million worth of drugs into the country.

Shakeel Razaq, 43, of Mansfield Road, Luton, was found guilty of conspiring to import and supply class A drugs on Tuesday (March 19) through his leading role in a criminal network of drug dealers.

An investigation by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) revealed that he was responsible for the sourcing and logistics of the UK side of the operation, acting as a middleman between other dealers and a supplier in Turkey.

Razaq was the man behind the EncroChat handle ‘Zeroalliance’, which he used to organise huge amounts of heroin and cocaine to be flown into the country.

Officers seized a shipment 156kg of heroin bound for the UK market after a a joint operation between ERSOU and Border Force in 2020. More messages on Razaq’s device indicated he was involved importing large amounts of drugs, and his messages referred to shipments totalling 3,058kg of cocaine and 2,357kg of heroin. If successfully imported and broken down into ‘street deals’, the potential value of these drugs would have been over £361 million.

Razaq worked closely with Denis Xhelili, formerly of New Park Avenue, London, who had international contacts willing to hide the drugs inside hollowed out pallets.

Xhelili was previously jailed for ten years, while Sulaiman Bawa, formerly of Peacock Avenue, London, was put behind bars for seven-and-a-half years for using his cargo company as a front to import drugs into the UK via air freight.

The trio had used the encrypted communications tool Encrochat to plan their activities to evade law enforcement. But the network’s servers were seized under Operation Venetic, uncovering thousands of messages between criminals.

Following a two-week trial at Luton Crown Court, Razaq was found guilty of conspiracy to import and conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin. He was also found guilty of twice breaching a Serious Crime Prevention Order, handed to him following a previous conviction for heroin importation.

Detective Constable Hayley Kendall, from ERSOU’s Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: “Razaq is a career criminal who paid no regard for the significant harm heroin and cocaine causes.

“He’s now facing a significant spell behind bars, and our region is a safer place with Razaq and his associates removed from causing further damage to our communities.

“ERSOU’s teams of specialist investigators and analysts are committed to tackling the most entrenched criminals who believe they are beyond the reach of the law, and we will continue to work tirelessly to protect the eastern region from organised crime”.