OCG leader jailed for running multi-million-pound Class A drugs ring throughout the North-West, Yorkshire and the Midlands from their bases in Pendle and Burnley

Last year Umar Hussain’s co-conspirators were jailed for nearly 50 years and Hussain (24) of Southfield Square, Nelson, has now been reunited with them. He was today (February 2nd) jailed for 11 years by Judge Simon Medland KC at Preston Crown Court.

The police East Target Crime Unit investigated and dismantled the OCG, which operated the heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine supply lines, commonly referred to by their customers as the ‘Don’, ‘Shark’, ‘Rambo’ and ‘Harry’ Lines from February 2022 to March 2023.

The heads of the OCG were defendants Hussain, Awais Khan, Javed Ahmed and Subhan Mushtaq.

In April 2022, a drug courier was arrested in Humberside in possession of 5 kilograms of cocaine.

Enquiries revealed he had travelled from Nelson with 10 kilograms of cocaine and had been directed where to go by Mushtaq. The courier was given passwords to say and receive before the multi-kilogram drug deals took place.

Mobile phone enquiries showed that the courier had completed multiple wholesale deals of cocaine in Hull, Birmingham and Leicester before being arrested in April of last year.

The Don and Shark Lines were run by Khan and Ahmed, who between them directed their street dealers and drivers where to go and sent out bulk text messages to drug users advertising heroin and crack cocaine for sale.

Both men were captured on CCTV buying top up credit for their drugs Lines, with Khan primarily controlling the Don Line and Ahmed the Shark Line.

Defendant Sohail Khan worked as a street dealer for The Don and Shark Lines, amongst others.

The Rambo and Harry Lines, which supplied crack cocaine and heroin, was controlled by Mushtaq from a safehouse in Brierfield, with defendants Zain Shah, Ali Hassan acting as his street dealers.

Glen Tranter and Dillon Gabriel were dealing for the Don and Shark Lines.

In an attempt to thwart the police investigation, the heads of the OCGs hired luxury cottages and holiday rentals costing thousands of pounds per week and regularly moved to avoid detection.

Enquiries showed that those operating the Harry, Don, Shark and Rambo Lines would share use of the same street dealers, meaning that multiple cars would be driving around Lancashire dealing drugs on behalf of all four strands of the OCG.

During the course of the investigation, officers seized drugs, cash and weapons and also put the four drug-dealing lines out of action.

Rafhan Sarwar (34) of Charles Street, Nelson, who police previously needed to speak to as part of their enquiries has now been charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin. He was remanded into custody to appear at Preston Crown Court later this year.

The operation was part of Operations Warrior, Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner Andrew Snowden’s Fighting Crime Plan priority of disrupting and dismantling organised crime.