A Bradford car dealer was unanimously convicted of masterminding a plot to flood the Bradford area with 130 kilogrammes of heroin.

Khalid Malik, 35, is facing a lengthy prison sentence for heading a gang which planned to bring £7 million worth of the drug to the district.

During a five-week trial at Leeds Crown Court a jury heard how Malik's luxury lifestyle included top of the range cars and expensive jewellery.

He had put down a deposit on an apartment in Dubai and invested in land and property in Yorkshire.

He was at the wheel of a black Lamborghini when he turned up to meet gang members at Harry Ramsden's at Guiseley in September last year, and owned a number of other expensive cars, including BMWs.

The father of three lived in a £450,000 house in Ridge Close, Guiseley. Police seized his £8,000 Rolex watch when they searched the premises.

Malik had extensive links across Europe, Pakistan and Turkey and ran a well established criminal enterprise, police said.

The court heard how Malik had run a sophisticated infrastructure of suppliers and dealers with established and extensive contacts abroad.

The drugs would usually arrive in London to be collected and distributed across the north of England, including Bradford and Leeds.

Malik sat with his head in his hands after the jury of nine women and three men found him guilty yesterday of conspiracy to supply heroin between September 1 last year and May 30 this year. His co-accused, Aras Karkuki, 34, of London, was also unanimously convicted of the same charge.

They were remanded in custody to be sentenced tomorrow with Londoners Farhad Ibrahim, 45, and Khalid Durrani, 38, who had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy.

The jury heard that Malik was convicted in 1998 of dealing in heroin and caught trying to sell the drug to an undercover police officer.

The court heard that in May Durrani went to London, on Malik's instructions, to collect drugs from Malik's suppliers, Karkuki and Ibrahim.

After meeting, the trio hid a white van in a back garden surrounded by a high wooden fence and protected by a remote- control wrought iron gate.

Durrani was arrested in the garden and when the house was searched police found 132 kilos of heroin packed into 12 cardboard boxes.

Detective Chief Inspector Lee Kirkby, of the National Crime Squad, said the London meetings were to deliver a substantial amount of heroin to Malik and his organisation which would have been on the streets of the north of England within days.

He added: "Malik's conviction and the dismantling of his established drugs network is a significant success in the National Crime Squad's ongoing attack on organised crime."

Malik's wife sobbed as the verdicts were announced.

The judge asked for financial information to be made available about the defendants before sentencing them.

Malik, who imported luxury cars - mainly BMWs - ran the Unique Car Care company in Gibson Street, Bradford.

He was arrested at the garage on May 12 after police seized the heroin haul.

His arrest followed months of surveillance by undercover police officers who trained CCTV cameras on his home and garage and filmed gang members meeting in West Yorkshire and London.

Officers found £73,000 in bank notes in the strong room at Unique Car Care.

Malik told the jury the money had been saved up from the sale of a top of the range BMW and takings from the garage to pay a tax bill and wages.