Dispatch district woman to be sentenced next month after pleading guilty to drugs charges

Heather McCrory, 27, of Larch Gardens, pleaded guilty at Derby Crown Court, along with five others, of conspiracy to supply class A and class B drugs.

The five others who also pleaded guilty to the charges were Shakeel Amin, 29, of Grassington Road, Beechdale, Zain Mushtaq, 22, of Thorncliffe Road, Mapperley, Ben Jones, 26, of no fixed address, Shamus Gulfraz, of no fixed address and Rabeena Kausser, 34, of Soudan Drive, The Meadows.

Three more gang members, Jamil Amin, 31, of Aspley Park Drive, Beechdale, Saad Essa, 24, of Briar Road, Harrow and Kieran Neilson, 22, of Colchester Road, Aspley, all pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs, but were found guilty by the jury.

McCrory and Kausser are set to be sentenced in January.

Other members of the gang were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court.

Jamil Amin was sentenced to 17 years in prison, Shakeel Amin was sentenced to 12 years and nine months, Essa was sentenced to nine years, Mushtaq received seven years and six months and Jones was sentenced to seven years and six months.

Gulfraz and Neilson are due to be sentenced at a later date.

A video of Shakeel Amin and Mushtaq bragging that they had so much money they could throw fivers ‘in the bin’ was shown as part of case.

During a six-week long trial, the court heard of how a single phone being seized was the catalyst for detectives to launch the investigation that lead to the group being brought to justice.

Officers found messages between the group on Mushtaq’s phone which uncovered that they were involved in supplying large quantities of class A and B drugs.

This included an apparent drugs lists and further videos showing Mushtaq bragging about a designer jewellery and clothing, as well as passing cash notes to a passenger in the car he was with.

Officers also found photos of large wads of cash and cannabis packaged on a large mat into blue bags – which would later be recovered from properties in West Bridgford. The Meadows and Beechdale.

This led officers to begin covert surveillance on Shakeel Amin and on the first day, May 4, 2019, four drug deals were witnessed and logged.

Further into the investigation, in August 2019, the group were found to be renting two standalone garages in West Bridgford and it was then that enforcement began.

Zain Mushtaq was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs after attending St Ann’s Police Station for a separate matter.

Following this his car was searched and a bag was seized, containing his phone as well as cannabis, cash, his ID, bank cards and a gym pass.

Later the same day, plain clothed officers watched Shakeel Amin attend the stash garage on Bolton Close in West Bridgford where they found a significant amount of cocaine, MDMA and cannabis, in addition to 10 kilograms of Boric Acid, which is a cutting agent used to bulk out cocaine.

They subsequently conducted another warrant at Grassington Road in Beechdale, where more boric acid, as well as scales, cannabis and a Rolex watch were recovered.

Further warrants were then conducted in Leroy Wallace Avenue in Radford, where a large number of dealer cards and empty deal bags were found.

Further intelligence led officers to Soudan Drive in The Meadows, where even more class A and class B drugs, as well as scales, deal bags and cash were recovered.

The Amin brothers’ cousin, Rabeena Kausser, also had her phone seized, which showed she had allowed them to use her address to package and store drugs since 2018.

Further analysis of the conversations led officers to search for Saad Essa who was located and arrested in London on October 3, 2019, and in 2020.

Officers were able to finalise their year-and-a-half of hard work when they made their final arrests.

DC Steven Fenyn, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: “One phone being seized led to an entire drugs conspiracy to be exposed, and it was important to remain patient and strike at the right moment to ensure we had the evidence we needed and the ability to bring all nine members of the group into custody.

“This is a firm warning to anyone involved in drug dealing that this is taken extremely seriously and we work proactively with a variety of different teams within the force to carry out the necessary observations, action and enforcement to ensure illegal drugs are taken off Nottinghamshire’s streets.

“The number of not guilty pleas certainly presented a challenge to us, but we were ultimately able to prove their involvement to the courts during the trial.

"I am very pleased with the verdict that has come out of this – it is a testament to the team and their dedication to the operation.

DI Jon Kerry, from Nottinghamshire Police, added: “Supplying and possessing illegal drugs is not only an offence in itself, but it is very often also indicative of wider and potentially more serious criminal activity.

“This is why we are so determined to investigate, take action and bring offenders to justice – and ultimately take illegal drugs of Nottinghamshire’s streets and stop them causing harm to our communities, the majority of which make the county a fantastic place.

“This result is a testament to DC Fenyn, and his sheer tenacity and patience with this investigation, during which he and my team spent the best part of two years pulling together the entire case ensuring the successful arrest, charge and ultimately conviction of all nine defendants.”