The gang were part of a wider drugs network which has now seen 20 men jailed for supplying Class A drugs

Seven men who flooded the streets of Preston with £17m of drugs have been jailed.

A year-long undercover investigation led to the Fishwick-based gang being exposed and put behind bars.

The group helped import high-purity drugs into the UK for distribution across the country, in particular the Preston area, through a well-established supply chain.

Mohammed Yahya Khan, Mohammed Wasaf Baig, Junaid Anwar, Yousef Ghafoor, Junaed Alam, Mohammed Umar Patel and Benjamin Lanford were all jailed at Preston Crown Court between Wednesday (2 November) and Friday (4 November).

How the gang were snared

Officers followed gang members Baig, Anwar, Ghafoor and Yahya Khan driving around Preston in a Volkswagen Golf conducting meetings and dealing drugs.

They then followed Baig who met Dhiren Lad and Mohammed Taymure Khan, two men linked to an organised crime group in the Bolton area.

The Preston and Bolton groups worked together to issue drugs across the city, mainly heroin and cocaine.

Mehboob Noor – who was jailed at an earlier hearing – stored the drugs at his Chatsworth Street home where the drugs were prepared.

Mehbob Noor

Benjamin Langford was found by police with half a kilogram of cocaine in his car after meeting with Junaed Alam.

Drugs found stashed in Langford’s car

The men were caught during dawn raids in September last year where police seized 30kg of heroin, close to a kilogram of cocaine, 19 kilograms of amphetamine and 25g of cannabis.

Read more: Drugs gang who blighted Fishwick and Callon jailed

What were the sentences for the gang?

Mohammed Yahya Khan

Mohammed Yahya Khan – 28, of Great Townley Street, Preston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and sentenced to two years.

Mohammed Wasaf Baig

Mohammed Wasaf Baig – 28, of New Hall Lane, Preston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs sentenced to nine years and four months.

Yousef Ghafoor

Yousef Ghafoor – 28, of Ringwood Road, Preston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs sentenced to two years.

Mohammed Umar Patel

Mohammed Umar Patel – 30, of Mornington Road, Bolton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs sentenced to three years.

Junaid Anwar

Junaid Anwar – 30, of New Hall Lane, Preston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and sentenced to six years and eight months.

Benjamin Langford

Benjamin Langford – 28, of Cranberry Fold Court, Darwen, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and sentenced to four years.

Junaed Alam

Junaed Alam – 26, of Gibraltar Street, Bolton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs sentenced to three years.

Read more: Drugs gang who used Avenham Park to deal are jailed

What Lancashire Police had to say

Inspector Simon Brooksbank said: “This is yet another example of Lancashire’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit’s relentless effort to take drugs off our streets by combating their supply.

“The activities of drug dealers can have such a negative effect on our communities. They can ruin lives, fuel other crime and can instil fear in our neighbourhoods.

“We will not tolerate the supply and selling of drugs in our county and I hope that the sentences handed down today send out a clear message that we are determined to bring to justice those who are involved in the supply of drugs in our county and beyond and we will continue to tackle organised crime on this scale.”