TWO drug dealers from Bradford are now behind bars because they didn’t realise detectives were intercepting their heroin and cocaine advertisements.
Attique Rafiq and Mohammed Yaseen Miah, both 29, ran two "county lines" operations, broadcasting messages to Scarborough drug users for two months during the pandemic.
But detectives intercepted the messages, tracked them back to the two men and arrested them. They also arrested Hannah MacKenzie, 25, who the pair used as a street dealer in the North Yorkshire seaside resort.
The trio were caught as part of Operation Expedite, the long-running county-wide campaign against drug dealing.
Rafiq, of Folkestone Street, Bradford, was jailed for nine and a half years at Hull Crown Court.
Miah, of Heath Terrace, Bradford was jailed for three-and-a-half years at York Crown Court earlier this year on the same day that MacKenzie, now of Beaverbank Place, Edinburgh, was given a 16-month prison sentence suspended for two years.
All three were convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin and conspiracy to supply cocaine in June and July 2021.
Detective Constable Darrel Temple, who led the investigation that put the two men behind bars, said: “Through detailed analysis of the phone data, we were able to determine that the deal-lines were being operated by Rafiq and Miah.
“We also established that they were using MacKenzie as a street dealer in Scarborough.
“We were able to detect and dismantle another ‘County Line’ whose Class A drugs would bring nothing but misery to our communities.
“Securing the guilty pleas and significant prison sentences is very satisfying to everyone involved in the case.”
Police revealed afterward that the operation against the two men was supported by Project Alliance which brings together the police, councils, the fire service, community safety partnerships, health bodies, Revenue and Customs, and other important partners and agencies, which share information, intelligence, and expertise to help tackle serious organised crime in North Yorkshire.
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