A BRADFORD man who went on the run 20 years ago was "waved through" immigration at Manchester airport when he voluntarily returned to the country nine months ago.

Mohammed Kaleem Bux, now 49, fled the country while on bail in 1998 and was featured in national crackdown on court dodgers in 2005, but when he flew back from Pakistan in January he was able to pass through the airport unchallenged despite using his own name.

Bradford Crown Court heard on Monday that Bux, who left a wife and three children in Pakistan, spent two weeks with family members before handing himself in to police.

Bux, of Barkerend Road, Bradford, was secretly recorded discussing the smuggling of heroin into this country during a ground-breaking police investigation in the summer of 1996.

Prosecutor Patrick Palmer said the main target of the inquiry was Bradford man Ashiq Elahi and officers took the unusual step of installing listening devices at his home in Branksome Court, Heaton.

Bux visited Elahi's home on three occasions over a 15-day period and their conversations included discussions about methods of drug smuggling, routes and use of couriers.

During the conversations they spoke about bringing in "a couple of kilos", but Mr Palmer submitted that they were seeking to establish an on-going arrangement for regular supplies of drugs from Pakistan.

He said Bux was organising the supply of drugs to the couriers from his source in Pakistan.

The court heard that Elahi, 34, also fled the country before his trial, but he was eventually rearrested in the Republic of Ireland after two years on the run and jailed for 12 years.

Barrister Abdul Iqbal QC, for Bux, said he had left the country in 1998 so he could see his mother who was gravely ill in Pakistan and she passed away a few months later.

Bux, who claimed to have become involved in the drugs conspiracy so he could raise money to start a cab business, married and raised a family in Pakistan, but family members in this country persuaded him to return in January.

Mr Iqbal said his client fully expected to arrested at the airport, but much to his surprise he was waved through immigration.

"Having met his family and having decided already in Pakistan that he would surrender to the authorities he walked into a police station and told them he was surrendering to custody," said Mr Iqbal.

Bux pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to import heroin and Judge Neil Davey QC sentenced him to seven years and six months in jail.

The judge also told Bux he would have a further six months added to his jail term for breaching his bail.

After the sentencing, Detective Inspector Simon Pridgeon, of West Yorkshire Police’s Protective Services Crime department, said: “This was a complex and ground-breaking investigation using an array of covert tactics which was conducted by our colleagues in the 1990s.

“Bux attempted to evade justice by fleeing to Pakistan where he had started a new life. Today justice has caught up to him largely due to the professionalism of the officers who worked on the case in the 1990s, and the detectives who have worked on this case since his return to the UK.

“A large amount of material was generated by the original investigation that spanned four years. Legislation and procedures have changed a lot in the years that followed this investigation. It is a credit to the detectives involved to have obtained Bux’s guilty plea.

“This sentencing sends out a message to anyone involved in any serious criminality in West Yorkshire that it does not matter how long it takes, even if you leave the country, West Yorkshire Police has a long memory, we will continue to pursue you and prosecute you.”