Eight men have been imprisoned as part of a massive police operation to smash drugs gangs in east London which has seen 50 suspects charged.
The men were targeted as part of “a long-term crackdown on the supply of drugs, violence, and anti-social behaviour in the Whitechapel area” of East London, which is known as a centre for the Bangladeshi community.
After pleading guilty, Samad Uddin, 28, Nawfal El- Ghaibouz, 21, Mohammed Moshin, 42, Noor Hussain, 21, Shane Bates, 21, Ismail Kiani, 20, Mohammed Muttaqir Rahman, 20, and Tahmid Hussain, 21, were sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Thursday.
The men are all from the Tower Hamlets area, where almost 40 percent of residents were Muslims when the 2011 census was recorded.
Each received short sentences of between two and five years after being linked to the supply of heroin and crack cocaine and related crimes, but will likely be entitled to automatic release on licence halfway through their sentences.
Ten more men pleaded not guilty and have been remanded in custody to face for trial later in the year.
Five more men — Atefur Rahman, 18, Mohammed Sherwaan Chowdhury, 18, Dilshad Chowdhury, 47, Ruhel Hussain, 18, and Konstantinos Tsoukanas, 36 — pleaded guilty to similar offences and will be sentenced on September 27th.
Salikul Islam, 22, Taukir Ahmed, 21, and Mahmudur Hassan, 23, also pleaded guilty after being linked to the the heroin and crack cocaine trade, and will be sentenced on the August 31st. All but one come from Tower Hamlets.
Councillor Asma Begum, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, commented: “Drug dealing is a blight in our community and it is a priority for the council and the police to disrupt the drug markets in the borough.
“Our partnership work with the police is taking hundreds of drug dealers off the streets and we will continue to maximize our resources to make our streets safer.”
Detective Chief Inspector Mike Hamer added: “Removing these men from our streets is an incredible result for the local community and London as a whole.
“They were all linked to the supply of crack cocaine and heroin and putting them in jail will severely disrupt the supply of drugs in the area.”
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