Three men jailed as cocaine worth up to £1.7m found in Bradford

Sahim Kazi, 29, of Murgatroyd Street, Bradford; Mohammed Javeed, 29, of Montagu Place, Roundhay, Leeds and David McGoldrick, 37, of Guthridge Crescent, Leicester, were jailed for a total of 21 years.

Kazi was a ‘trusted warehouser of large amounts of cocaine’, while Javeed and McGoldrick were described as ‘trusted couriers’ in the operation.

The value of the cocaine which was recovered from the three men was valued between £584,000 and £1.7m wholesale, if broken down as one kilogram deals, Bradford Crown Court was told yesterday.

Some of the drugs seized in this case

They were all convicted of possessing differing quantities of cocaine; Kazi with 15 kilos, Javeed with four kilos and McGoldrick with two kilos.

In the incident, police officers spotted a blue Saab car parked in Clipstone Street in Bradford. Kazi was seen walking from his house in nearby Murgatroyd Street to the vehicle, carrying a black bin liner, which he put into the Saab.

Javeed moved items into the boot of the car and drove off in the Saab.

Officers followed Javeed to Overpark Avenue in Leicester, where he met up with the third defendant, McGoldrick, who was carrying a black rucksack and got into the car. They drove to another address in Hamelin Road, Leicester, and McGoldrick left the car.

The police tracked McGoldrick and he was found with two kilogram blocks of vacuum-packed blocks of cocaine, with a value of between £64,000 and £200,000. If divided into one gram street deals they would be worth £200,000. The blocks had the Italia flag on them.

The blue Saab was then searched and police found a further two kilos of cocaine vacuum-packed blocks again with the Italia flag on it, with a value of between £64,000 and £197,000. They also found £250 of cash. Javeed and McGoldrick were then arrested, Peter Hampton, prosecuting, told the court.

Police then executed a search warrant at Kazi’s Murgatroyd Street address, where he was found and subsequently arrested.

Officers found 15 blocks of cocaine, each weighing one kilo, at Kazi’s address and two of these blocks had the Italia flag on them.

Weighing scales were also found at the property. The incident took place on September 3 last year.

A black Volkswagen Golf, parked near the property which was hired by Kazi, was searched and officers found a Rolex watch, which is believed to be counterfeit, disposable gloves and a quantity of cannabis.

Kazi was jailed for seven-and-a-half years, Javeed was jailed for seven years and McGoldrick was jailed for six-and-a-half years, all for possession with intent to supply a class A controlled drug; cocaine. All three men had each entered guilty pleas at previous hearings.

All three men will serve the first half of their respective sentences in prison, when they will be released on licence to serve the second half of their terms.

Javeed was previously jailed for 30 months for possession of cocaine with intent to supply. McGoldrick was previously jailed for three years in 2012 for possession with intent to supply cocaine.

Kazi, who had no previous convictions, had hired a car in the past which he was uninsured to use and was damaged, which left him with a repair bill of up to £100,000, the court heard.

This led to him succumbing to taking part in this drugs operation.

Ajaz Qazi, mitigating for Kazi, said: “This was his incentive to pay off his debt; to become involved in that enterprise gave him two options; pay the money, or become involved in this criminality.

“He was out of his depth, under pressure and succumbed to being involved in this serious criminality.”

The ‘remorse is genuine and deep-seated’ in Kazi, added Mr Qazi, who said that Kazi’s desire to make amends was real, rather than ‘fanciful and weak’.

Javeed become involved in the operation as he looked to pay off a drugs debt worth £4,000. He became addicted to cocaine earlier in his 20s after first taking cannabis, his mitigation heard.

He made ‘real efforts’ to stop taking cocaine, but he had returned to the drug just before this incident.

Sameen Ahktar, mitigating for father-of-five McGoldrick, said he was unemployed at the time of the incident and was ‘the architect of his own downfall’.

Speaking after the sentencing Detective Chief Inspector Jon Key, said: 
“Programme Precision is aimed at targeting those who cause harm to the communities of West Yorkshire through their activities in organised crime. 
“This particular partnership operation has led to the recovery of a significant amount of cocaine and put three men behind bars for more than 20 years. 
“We will continue our efforts to target those involved in serious and organised crime to help make West Yorkshire a safer place.”