Gang jailed for combined 22 years after using drones to smuggle drugs and prohibited items into prisons including in Northamptonshire
A gang which used drones to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into multiple prisons – including in Northamptonshire – have been sentenced to a combined 22 years imprisonment.
The group was so prolific officers believe they were responsible for the majority of drone drops in prisons across London in the time they were offending, along with prisons in Bedford, Norwich, Leicester, and HMP Onley in Northamptonshire.
Officers from Metropolitan Police’s specialist crime unit began investigating drone drops after receiving intelligence.
The investigating team used tactics including surveillance outside prisons, analysis of phone data that showed the suspects in the vicinity of prisons and downloaded the flight data of drones that had been found in or around prisons.
Ultimately, this led to them identifying the seven-person team of drone pilots, co-pilots and taxi drivers as well as lookouts. They thought they were successfully evading the police by regularly changing drivers and operating in the middle of the night, but they were being closely monitored by the unit, which identified more than 50 drone drops in three months.
In the early hours of February 26 last year, four men were arrested less than a mile from HMP Norwich – with finding a knife, a drone and cannabis in their car.
Packages smuggled into prisons included class B drugs, mobile phones, chargers, and SIM cards.
The group all pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to:
- Conspiracy to Convey List A Articles into Prison
- Conspiracy to Convey List B Articles into Prisons
- Conspiracy to Supply Controlled Drugs of Class B
- Conspiracy to Supply Controlled Drugs of Class C
On Tuesday March 3 they were sentenced at at Harrow Crown Court.
Sentences handed down to members of the gang:
- Shafaghatullah Mohseni, aged 29, of Overbrook Walk, Edgware was sentenced to five years and three months' imprisonment, for playing a leading role
- Hashin Al-Hussaini, aged 28, Streatfield Road, Kenton, was sentenced to two years and nine months' imprisonment
- Mohammed Hamoud, aged 22, of Streatfield Road, Kenton, was sentenced to two years and nine months' imprisonment
- Faiz Salah, aged 29, of Prodger, NW9, was sentenced to two years and seven months' imprisonment
- Zahar Essaghi, aged 51, of Martynside, NW9, was sentenced to two years and nine months' imprisonment
- Mustafa Ibrahim, aged 30, of College Hill Road, Harrow Weald, was sentenced to two years and six months' imprisonment
- Emanuel Fisniku, aged 25, of Highbury Stadium Square, Islington, was sentenced to two years and three months' imprisonment
Detective Inspector John Cowell said: “This highly organised gang thought they were outsmarting the police and prison authorities. What they didn’t know is they were subject to sustained specialist surveillance by Met officers, who identified those responsible and brought them to justice.
“We will continue to work closely with the Prison Service to tackle the gangs who bring violence and drugs to our prisons.”
Lord Timpson, minister for prisons, probation and reducing reoffending, said: “We are closing in on the criminals who think they can exploit our prisons from the sky. Anyone trying to smuggle drugs, weapons or phones into jail using drones should be in no doubt – we will track you down, we will catch you, and you will face the full force of the law.”