An East London organised crime group have been jailed for 41 years for their role in smuggling Class A and B drugs into the UK from Jamaica in deliveries of sweet potatoes.

UPDATE: 22 April 2022

The three men, Kashif Mushtaq [38], Sarbjit Chumber [48] and Attiq Ur Rehman [41] were found guilty at Southwark Crown Court last month [31 March] and sentenced at the same court yesterday.

They received the following sentences: Mushtaq, 17 and a half years; Chumber, 14 years and Rehman, nine and a half years.

Jon Eatwell, lead officer from the NCA’s Anti-Corruption Unit, said: “This investigation has resulted in substantial jail terms for these men who will be denied any criminal gains and face years behind bars.

“Together they ran a sophisticated operation that enabled them to bring drugs into the UK through legitimate services, where every man had his part. Those drugs would have ultimately been sold across London, likely fuelling further crime and violence.

“The NCA’s work to tackle those behind the international class A drugs trade continues.’

31 March 2022

Three members of an East London organised crime group have been found guilty of involvement in a drugs operation which saw Class A and B drugs smuggled into the UK from Jamaica in deliveries of sweet potatoes.

The National Crime Agency began their investigation in October 2018, when officers from the Metropolitan Police, who were working with the NCA, seized nearly 35 kilos of cannabis from a car in Hackney.

The drugs were wrapped in sealed packages within cardboard boxes used for transporting sweet potatoes.

One of those arrested in connection with the haul was Kashif Mushtaq, 38, from Romford who upon further enquiries and searches of his home and business, was found to have links to Jamaica

This seizure led NCA investigators to a second shipment three months later in January 2019 when 94 packages containing cocaine and cannabis were found in another load of sweet potatoes on a flight that had arrived at Gatwick airport from Kingston, Jamaica.

The drugs collectively weighed 85.5 kilos and would have been worth more than £3.5 million if sold on the streets of the UK.

NCA teams tracked the second load of drugs to an industrial estate in Hayes, where the boxes were seen being sorted.

Officers arrested Attiq Ur Rehman as he took a handover of the boxes in Kingsbury Road, North London.

Rehman tried to run away before officers caught up with him.

A third man, Sarbjit Chumber, 48, from Hounslow, who was suspected of being involved in the exchange and was in phone contact with the men, was arrested minutes later at Spitalfields Market.

Analysis of messages between the men led back to Mushtaq, who following his arrest in 2018, had been released under investigation.

The NCA suspected Mushtaq also played a leading role in the operation despite being in Pakistan at the time that the drugs were seized. He was subsequently arrested after returning to the UK.

Today at Southwark Crown Court Mushtaq, Chumber and Ur Rehman were found guilty of drug smuggling offences in relation to the January 2019 shipment. A fourth man was cleared.

Mushtaq and two other men were found not guilty of involvement in the October 2018 seizure.

Jon Eatwell lead officer from the NCA’s Anti-Corruption Unit, said: “This crime group were well organised and established a system that enabled them to smuggle drugs into the UK through legitimate services, where every man had his role in the conspiracy.

“The drugs they trafficked would have been sold across London and could have fuelled further crime and violence.

“Working with partners, we are determined to relentlessly pursue organised crime groups involved in the importation and supply of drugs.”