Drug dealer jailed following airport arrest

A drug dealer who used his "ill-gotten gains" to pay for several holidays abroad has been jailed for nine years.

Shazad Miah, 30, of Ashington Road, Rochford, was returning from a trip to Turkey on 4 June 2023 when he was met by police at Luton Airport.

He took thousands of pounds in ill-gotten gains by running a drug line supplying crack cocaine and heroin in Southend-on-Sea, said a spokesperson for Essex Police.

Following a trial at Basildon Crown Court, Miah was found guilty of being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine and possessing criminal property.

Police said the drug line - named Frankie - used 10 different mobile numbers to send out messages advertising the sale of Class A drugs.

Miah held the drug line phones across a period between February and June 2023, with up to five runners working under him on any given day.

During his time running the line, and without any other plausible source of income, Miah splashed out on four expensive holidays, the force said.

They were paid for from a business bank account and personal accounts, set up under a fake car hire business.

He took in more than £30,000 in criminal profit using these accounts, police said.

The day before his arrest, Miah was on a privately chartered boat in Turkey, the force added.

Police raided his home on the day of his arrest, seizing evidence including more than £3,000 cash from a safe found at the property.

Officers also found a passport belonging to one of Miah's suspected runners stowed inside the safe.

Miah pleaded not guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine but pleaded guilty to possessing criminal property.

He had previously been convicted for drug dealing matters in 2013 and again in 2020, when he was jailed for 36 months.

Police believe an estimated 2.295kg of Class A drugs were supplied during Miah's running of the Frankie line, valued at around £191,000.

Det Sgt Rob Maile said: "He was distanced from the harsh reality of crack cocaine and heroin use, which brings associated anti-social behaviour impacting our communities and a disastrous impact on the lives of those addicted to these substances.

"Instead, he used the profits of this drug line to fund holidays to Paris, Menorca, Amsterdam and Turkey - all within a four-month period."

Miah was sentenced on Thursday.

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