These dramatic pictures released by West Yorkshire Police show a £1.4 million cocaine stash hidden in a gas canister and an 8mm semi-automatic pistol seized in raids on two Bradford houses.
Specialist officers used an angle grinder to cut open the canister hidden in the basement at an address in Cornwall Place, Manningham. It was so sophisticated that it even re-leased real gas from the valve when turned on.
The photos also show the pistol recovered from another house in the city on February 9 last year in a complex operation by the force’s Precision Serious Organised Crime Unit.
Today, Faruk Miah, 44, was imprisoned for 18 years for possession with intent to supply Class A and Class B drugs and possession of a prohibited firearm.
Safraz Latif, 37, was locked up for 11 years for possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply.
Miah, of Cornwall Place, Manningham, Bradford, was said to have played a leading role in the organisation. He was caught after hiding the gun under garden steps. He also had a bank note counting machine, a heat sealing device and an angle grinder to cut open the canister.
He pleaded guilty on the day of his trial at Bradford Crown Court to trafficking the co-caine and a quarter of a kilo of cannabis. He was convicted by the jury of possession the pistol as a prohibited firearm.
Latif, of Beacon Grove, Wibsey, Bradford, was said to be a courier for the drugs opera-tion. He was found guilty of possession of the cocaine with intent to supply.
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