A drug ring described as an ‘Empire of pain’ has been foiled after over a million pills were seized by police.
More than 730kg of drugs were seized during a three-year police operation involving UK Border Force, City of London Police and overseas authorities including US law enforcement.
Authorities first became aware of the “pharmaceutical smuggling ring” in October 2020 when US Customs and Border seized numerous shipments sent from Britain containing illicit pharmaceutical drugs.
The packages were traced to the UK and City of London Police were able to identify the men behind the drug shipment as Salman Ansari and Waqas Saleem.
By tracing the packages being sent from UK airports to JFK, officers were able to identify drop-off locations of the drugs, as well as vehicles used by Ansari and Saleem, both 33.
This led City of London Police officers to a storage unit in Wembley, where they arrested the pair in July 2021.
Inside the unit a significant quantity of large cardboard boxes were found, filled with thousands of blister packs of pharmaceutical-grade drugs.
These included Tramadol, Zopiclone, Atizolam, Xanax, Nitrazepam, Zolpidem, Pregabalin as well as what was believed to be cannabis resin. A total of 175 exhibits were seized from the storage location.
At the same time, officers attended Ansari’s home and arrested his wife Juhi Ansari, 32, for money laundering.
Investigations revealed Ansari had over 11 bank accounts in his name, with a credit turnover of £1.09m.
Ansari sent his wife more than £265,000 between March 2018 and September 2021. She had also sent him £147,000 during the same time frame.
It was also established that Ansari sent Saleem over £7,000 between April 2021 and July 2021.
Ansari also sent around £46,458 to India while his wife sent around £41,194 to the subcontinent.
Ansari was sentenced to six years in jail at Southwark Crown Court on Friday for 12 counts of possession with intent to supply Class A, B and C drugs.
He was also found guilty of one count of conspiracy to supply Class C and one count of money laundering
Meanwhile, Saleem, 33 received a two-and-a-half-year sentence for the same charges.
Juhi Ansari, 32 was found guilty of one count of money laundering and received a suspended sentence.
They were ordered to complete 100 hours unpaid work and 25 days rehab.
Detective Constable Syed Shah, from the Serious Organised Crime Team, City of London Police said: “Today’s result is the culmination of numerous law enforcement agencies, working together from across the world, over a period of more than three years.
“The illegal importation of drugs has a devastating impact on the public. These drugs in particular are subject to an emerging trend of misuse due to their availability and affordability.
“Many of the drugs seized are unregulated products for the UK market, with the investigation team encountering counterfeited brands such as Xanax with flubromazolam where the pills dose and potency unknown.
“The withdrawal from drugs such as pregabalin can be more severe than opiate withdrawal and presents the user with a risk to life.”
