International drug ring leader jailed for 16 years
The ringleader of an international drug smuggling racket has been locked up for 16 years.
Tahir Mahmood, from Stourbridge, played a leading role in a gang that imported heroin into the UK and other countries in Europe between 2011 and 2013.
The amount of the class A drug that the 53-year-old, from Ridge Grove, was involved with had a total estimated value of up to £1.383 million.
The drugs were concealed by couriers in body suits and false compartments in suitcases, on flights out of Pakistan to destinations across Europe, including Birmingham airport.
Mahmood was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court this afternoon after pleading guilty to five charges at an earlier hearing.
He was sentenced alongside his 'right hand man', 43-year-old Anwar Bashir, from Park Lane in Bradford, who was jailed for 15 years after being found guilty of three offences following a trial.
