University graduate who masterminded £5m heroin empire thanks to his business degree is busted after meticulous accounts fell into police hands

Some Muslim immigrants do get degrees and can be quite successful.

From the Daily Mail

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 3:26 PM on 20th July 2011

Mastermind: Akbar Bukhari used his business skills to run a £5 million heroin smuggling operationMastermind: Akbar Bukhari used his business skills to run a £5 million heroin smuggling operation

A graduate who used his business degree to oversee an international heroin operation is due to be sentenced for his part in the plot.

The criminal network was rumbled after a detailed ledger recording the plot was found by police.

Akbar Bukhari, who studied business at Liverpool University, laundered at least £5 million of criminal gains over two years, trafficking more than 420kg of heroin.

He was due to be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday, but the case was adjourned until next month. Six other men involved in the operation were jailed.

The conspiracy unravelled in May 2009, when one of Bukhari’s underlings was arrested by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) in Birmingham after being given a bag by the mastermind.

Inside was a handgun, a silencer and bullets, weighing scales and fake bank notes, along with the all-important ledger.

 

The records kept by former student Bukhari, 28, contained in-depth profit accounting and specified when batches of drugs were in stock, as well as the quantities supplied to particular customers at a given time.

Accounts: This ledger, detailing the international operation, fell into the hands of policeAccounts: This ledger, detailing the international operation, fell into the hands of police

‘Sale or return’ information was written down and the ledger set out a coding system to disguise telephone numbers as they were swapped with fellow crooks.

The book led Soca to the five other gang members, as well as their partners in Holland, who oversaw the cutting of the heroin to increase eventual profits.

Four men, including Bukhari’s university housemate, were enlisted to divide the drugs into blocks, package them for sale, store and transport them.

Jailed: Abdul Haque, left, and Steven Dobson
Jailed: Abdul Haque, left, and Steven Dobson

Jailed: Abdul Haque, left, and Steven Dobson

 

Heroin gang: Brian Blankson and David Edwards
Heroin gang: Brian Blankson and David Edwards

Heroin gang: Brian Blankson, left, and David Edwards

Prison sentence: Kevin SmithPrison sentence: Kevin Smith

The other two men to have been jailed were used to distribute drugs around the country through their criminal contacts. The six have been given jail sentences of between five and 21 years.

A Soca spokesman said: ‘This is the end of the road for a crime group which did major damage to communities.

‘It was led by an individual who chose to apply his business aptitude to drug trafficking and the sheer scale of his gang’s criminal dealings show how important it was this network was identified and dismantled.

‘The lesson for criminal gang members is clearly that no matter how intelligent, educated or professional your associates are, you can never trust them to keep you out of trouble with the law.’

Bukhari is already serving 6 years for being caught in possession of the gun which was in the bag intercepted by police.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

Comments are closed.