OTTAWA: A drugs kingpin from Hounslow has been jailed for 30 years for importing cocaine and ammunition.
Harvinder Sanghera, of The Vale, Heston, was one of four men sentenced to a total of 77 years behind bars for their part in a major international smuggling ring.
They were arrested after police intercepted 40kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of £11m, and 100 rounds of 9mm ammunition being smuggled by the network, which stretched from Mexico to London via the USA and Canada.
Officers observed flight cargo information being passed to criminals, who used the knowledge to import large quantities of drugs through British Airways World Cargo at Heathrow.
In early 2012, police followed a 21kg consignment of cocaine and ammunition from the cargo sheds at Heathrow to a house in Surrey, where seven men were arrested. Those men were later convicted of possession with intent to supply cocaine.
Senior members of the network based in London were then followed to Vancouver, Canada, travelling first class by BA.
Network head Sanghera headed on to Los Angeles, where he was seen holding clandestine meetings believed to have been organised to arrange new drugs shipments.
Back in the UK, another network head Savdeep Atkar was seen meeting criminals, including professional boxer Stephen O’Meara, to discuss the importation and distribution of the cocaine.
David Brown, an associate of Sanghera, was observed meeting couriers and distributors at the London end of the network.
O’Meara organised the collection of a 19kg consignment of the drug in August 2013, which was intercepted by police following a hand-over near Heathrow.
Atkar, Brown, O’Meara and Sanghera were all sentenced on Friday (March 20), at Southwark Crown Court, after admitting their part in the operation.
Atkar, 33, of Lodge Lane, Grays, Essex, was jailed for 21 years for importing cocaine; Brown, 51, of High Street, Biggleswade, got 13 years for supplying cocaine; O’Meara, 31, formerly of Linchfield Road, Datchet, got 13 years for supplying cocaine; and Sanghera, 33, got a total of 30 years for importing cocaine and ammunition.
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Andy Whitewood said: “This was a sophisticated, well-organised and determined criminal network.
“The man at the upper end of the organisation, Harvinder Sanghera, and his lieutenant, Savdeep Atkar, were obviously capable of masterminding and resourcing this complicated international smuggling operation and sustaining it over a long period.
“Sanghera and his network were unfortunate enough to come to the notice of a team specifically established to take on and bring to justice organised criminal enterprises such as his.
“The evidence shows that this unit has disrupted and dismantled what was a well-oiled, large scale operation and we will now seek to strip him and his co-conspirators of their extensive criminal proceeds.”
