Watch: Major Birmingham drugs gang jailed after probe sparked by rivals' attack

Nine men from the city were convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine after a major 13-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court which ended in January.

The investigation by officers from West Midlands Police began in May 2021 after a rival group pulled up outside a house on Oakwood Road in Sparkhill, which the gang was using to prepare the drugs for onwards sale.

The rival group emerged from an Audi and a BMW, carrying machetes and a shotgun, then kicked open the front door, where they attacked Mohammed Ishaq with a machete leaving a large slash wound and injuries to his arm.

Following this attack, paramedics were called to the scene and reported to police what they had seen, setting in motion an attempt by the gang to hide the drugs before officers arrived.

This included items being hidden in bushes at Sparkhill Park, with a search uncovering a mixing bowl full of brown powder and wrapped plastic bags, with more than 8kg of heroin and 1kg of crack cocaine, valued at £22,670, but worth more once mixed and prepared for sale on the street.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "Inside the home on Oakwood Road, we found drugs, mixing agents, scales, sieves, razor blades mixing bowls and plastic bags.

"The rival gang drove around Sparkhill Park in an effort to recover the drugs before our officers did, with one member even phoning 999 with a false report of a shooting nearby in a failed attempt to divert officers away from the park.

"Our investigation intensified with major CCTV trawls and mobile phone analysis to identify the group, and they were all arrested in a series of early morning raids on October 20 that year.

"We established that they controlled at least six separate drugs lines which customers would contact to buy class A drugs across Birmingham.

"They were linked to eight separate drugs seizures in an 18-month period spanning 2020 and 2021. 

"We recovered a photo of one of the gang posing for a photo with bowls of the drugs."

Following the trial at Birmingham Crown Court, Mohammed Imran Khan, 37, of Imperial Road in Bordesley Green, was jailed for 14 years and two months.

Khan was named as the group leader who made a stamp advertising one of the phone numbers of one of the lines and its opening hours and had driven others around in his BMW trying to recover the drugs before police did. 

Mohammed Ishaq, 32, of Knowle Road in Sparkhill, was attacked in the Oakwood Road house where he was preparing drugs, and was jailed for 10 years and two months.

Kaleem Ullah Khan, 37, of Arden Road in Saltley, was jailed for 13 years and three months, while Sohail Hussain, 31, of Priorygate Way in Bordesley Green, was jailed for nine years and nine months after being seen leaving the Oakwood Road house after the attack, carrying a machete and bag of cocaine.

Riaz Mohammed, 39, of Carlton Road in Bordesley Green, was jailed for seven years and six months, while Anwar Awais, 28, of Allens Croft Road in Kings Heath, was jailed for seven years and four months.

Mohammed Hamza Butt, 25, of Cobham Road in Bordesley Green was jailed for eight years, Nowshad Mohammed, 29, of Bordesley Green received seven years and two months and Ahmed Iqbal, 19, of Cherrywood Road in Bordesley Green will be sentenced at a later date.

Det Sgt Danny Wilson, who led the investigation, said: “This was a gang that was trading in the human misery of class A drugs, exploiting vulnerable people and fuelling a violent trade.

“Our investigation was triggered by an act of extreme violence against the gang, and that exposed the property at Oakwood Road as the headquarters of the operation.

“They were at the higher end of the supply chain, and their illegal product was being used to supply people across the city.

“These lengthy sentences send a powerful message to those involved in the drugs trade that we are coming for you and you will spend years behind bars.”