A KEIGHLEY man and a Leicester man who were part of a Midlands-based drug dealing ring trafficking Class A drugs from West Yorkshire have been jailed for a combined 13.5 years.

Mudassar Iqbal, 38, from Keighley, and Nadeem Razaq, 54, from Leicester were jailed at Leeds Crown Court today after pleading guilty to drugs offences.

Iqbal was sentenced to nine years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs while Razaq was sentenced to 4.5 years for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

The conspiracy was unravelled after Razaq was stopped by armed police while driving in Leeds city centre on Sunday May 31, 2020. He was found to be in possession of two kilos of heroin.

Enquiries by West Yorkshire Police’s Programme Precision Team established he was acting as a courier whereas Iqbal had played a leading role in orchestrating the supply.

Iqbal was identified and arrested by officers in July 2020.

Detective Chief Inspector Jon Key - Protective Services (Crime), said: “We welcome the sentencing of these two men at Leeds Crown Court for what was a determined effort to traffic substantial amounts of Class A drugs across the country.

“Programme Precision was formed to combat organised crime gangs, such as the one these men operated, and this conviction demonstrates that criminals from outside West Yorkshire who seek involvement in criminal activity here will be relentlessly pursued, as will their associates.

“Drugs crime is a huge blight on communities and we continue to urge anyone who has information about drug dealing to report it to the police or anonymously to the independent Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.”