A dealer linked to a £10m drugs gang was caught with £30,000 in cash and thousands of pounds worth of designer clothes when he was finally caught by police. Cannabis Hamza Badawi, 25, has been jailed after his fingerprints were discovered on snap bags containing £10,000 worth of the class B drug.
Police seized a Deliveroo bag found abandoned after a high speed chase in Salford, which contained drugs including the cannabis linked to Badawi. Manchester Crown Court heard he formed part of a wider drugs gang who were also involved in dealing cocaine, MDMA, and ketamine.
Badawi, from Moss Side, was only accused of being involved in cannabis. The network was led by brothers Mohammed and Ebrahim Sadigh.
READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community
Police believe they were linked to the supply of up to £10 million worth of illegal drugs over a four year conspiracy from 2017 to 2020. Five members of the gang, including the siblings, were sentenced to a combined 40 years for their roles in the drugs ring earlier this year.
The M.E.N. previously told how some of the gang had links to the Abedi brothers, who plotted the Manchester Arena attack. Zuhir Nassrat, 24, who remains on the run and is wanted by police for his alleged role in the drugs gang, was arrested as part of the investigation into the Arena bombing. He denied any involvement and was later released without charge.
Nassrat was linked to IP addresses which had made attempts to purchase hydrogen peroxide, a chemical used in the making of the bomb, the Manchester Arena public inquiry heard. He was interviewed 13 times by police and said he had given his bank card details to Hashem Abedi, the brother of Salman Abedi who is in jail serving a minimum of 55 years in jail for helping his sibling prepare the terrorist attack.
During the inquiry, Ebrahim Sadigh was alleged to have been an ‘interface’ in the purchase of hydrogen peroxide. Sadigh provided a statement to police but later refused to have further dialogue with officers.
Police also spoke to Illyas Abudaber, another alleged associate of the Abedi brothers who has been jailed for his role in the drugs gang.
His IP address was also linked to the attempted purchase of hydrogen peroxide, the inquiry heard. Abudaber was not arrested and did not provide a witness statement. At Friday afternoon's sentencing hearing, Badawi's lawyer claimed the defendant was involved in the drugs gang for a matter of 'weeks' in 2017.
Police went to arrest him on the same day as other members of the gang in December 2020, but he was not at home. He was eventually caught two years later in a flat in Salford Quays.
In the property, officers discovered about £30,000 in cash and designer clothing worth over £5,000, prosecutor Neil Fryman said. Simon Hustler, defending, said Badawi had not moved away from the area and had 'wandered the streets throughout that time'.
He said Badawi, of Triscombe Way, Moss Side, was at 'the bottom end' of the conspiracy. Judge Timothy Smith jailed him for 27 months after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply cannabis.
At a previous sentencing hearing in January, Mohammed Sadigh, 30, and Ebrahim Sadigh, 22, both of Quantock Street, Moss Side, were jailed for 11 and seven years respectively after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, MDMA, cannabis and ketamine. Hamza Azouz, 31, of Mardy Street, Cardiff, was jailed for six years. He also admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, MDMA, cannabis and ketamine.
Illyas Abudaber, 23, of Birchfields Road, Fallowfield, was jailed for 12 years. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, MDMA, cannabis and ketamine, as well as a string of further offences, including possession of a loaded firearm.
Hamam Alhamruni, 24, of Nevada Street, Ardwick, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, cannabis and ketamine, as well as two breaches of a suspended sentence. He was jailed for six years and four months.
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
- 'I felt so vulnerable...' gang bundled young men into back of Audi before subjecting them to horrible ordeal
- 'I thought my baby just had a bug - but he was on the brink of death'
- 'It blew my mind how bad it was': Woman slams 'farcical' Arena gig seating
- Bloodshed on the streets as neighbourhood rocked by 'double stabbing'
- CCTV released after man targeted in alleged racist hate crime at petrol station
