Shahid Saleem

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Shahid Saleem has been jailed for possession with intent to supply cocaineShahid Saleem has been jailed for possession with intent to supply cocaine

A MAN who had been staying in a hotel room for several months has been jailed for bagging up and supplying cocaine.

Shahid Saleem, 45, of Clifton Street, Keighley, had been staying at the Travelodge in Keighley when police raided his room.

They found cocaine and other items including notebooks in his room. Bank notes and bank cards were also found, along with three mobile phones.

The mobile phones seized from Saleem featured a number of messages which linked him to drug dealing, Glenn Parsons, prosecuting, told the court. The phone also revealed Saleem was conducting drug deals in Keighley and Skipton.

A total of 10 bank cards and four driving licences were found under the sun visor of his Peugeot 308 which was parked in a disabled bay in the hotel car park. Notebooks that were discovered also contained details of drug deals.

Cocaine with a total value of £921.24 was found in the raid on Saleem’s hotel room on January 4, 2019. He had been staying at the same hotel since September 2018.

Saleem was jailed for two years and eight months for possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of class A – cocaine.

In mitigation, the court heard Saleem was addicted to cocaine when the drugs were found in 2019. He was bagging up and selling the drugs to pay off a drug debt, Bradford Crown Court heard.

His mitigating counsel said: “He owed a significant amount of money from his drug debt. He was a daily user of cocaine.

“There has been a significant change in his life since January 2019.

“He no longer drinks or uses drugs. That was the root problem that got him into offending.

“He has proven over the last three-and-a-half years that he is capable of leading a law-abiding and constructive life.”

In July 2009, Saleem was jailed for four years when a jury convicted him of possessing heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine with intent to supply. He pleaded guilty to possession of GHB and amphetamine.

Judge Colin Burn told Saleem: “You were in the Travelodge in Keighley and had been there for a few months, bagging and distributing class A drugs.

“You were holding onto driving licences as collateral in collection of debts.

“You understood the position you were in and, at the time, you were taking class A drugs yourself.

“Your family circumstances have changed a lot since you committed these offences.”

Khuram Shahzad

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Khuram Shahzad, 22, of Tern Street in Canterbury, Bradford. Picture: West Yorkshire PoliceKhuram Shahzad, 22, of Tern Street in Canterbury, Bradford. Picture: West Yorkshire Police

A 22-YEAR-OLD drug dealer threw a key for a safe containing packages of crack cocaine worth more than £4,500 out a bedroom window when police raided his house, writes Brad Deas.

Khuram Shahzad, of Tern Street in Canterbury, Bradford, was sentenced to two years in prison for seven offences of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply and one count of possessing cannabis at Bradford Crown Court on Tuesday.

He pleaded guilty to all charges on May 20.

Two police officers on duty spotted Shahzad, on a bike, exchanging items with another man on Southfield Lane, Canterbury on March 25, 2020.

One of the officers approached Shahzad and he tried to cycle off but was detained.

There were some small bags of cannabis in his manbag and officers found cash and two mobile phones on Shahzad.

Shahzad was taken into custody and a number of drugs, including 1.48g of heroin, 2.75g of crack cocaine, 986mg of cocaine and 10g of cannabis, worth £416 in street value, and £132.35 cash, was seized from him.

Just under seven months later his house was raided by police.

Officers attended and saw a key being thrown from the back window of a bedroom in the property.

Police found a safe inside the room and also located the key that had been thrown.

The safe was searched and seized. It contained £4,815 in cash – which was uncounted at the time – 16 wraps of heroin (2.42g, with a street value of £160), one wrap of cocaine (129mg, no value given) and 61 wraps of crack cocaine (4.4g, £370).

There were also two packages of crack cocaine, which contained 46.9g of the class A drugs and had a street value in excess of £4,500.

Shahzad has no previous convictions and his defence lawyer said he has “changed and learned from the error of his ways” since the offences in 2020.

He added: “He was a young, different person than to what he is now. Then he was a man living a crazy lifestyle, a lifestyle driven by his use of cannabis.”

The house search “brought matters home to him” and he spoke to his mother about his Shahzad is registered as his mum’s full-time carer. It was said Shazad was performing a limited function, applied by pressure.

Judge Gibson said: “There was a degree of immaturity at that time as well. You could have been facing a long sentence if the court wished to.”

Aurel Hoxha and Kledvin Palushi

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Aurel Hoxha was one of two men jailed for their part in a cannabis farm found at a Bradford addressAurel Hoxha was one of two men jailed for their part in a cannabis farm found at a Bradford address

TWO men, including one who was smuggled into the UK in the back of a lorry, have been sentenced for their part in a cannabis farm at an address in Bradford.

Aurel Hoxha, 31, and Kledvin Palushi, 22, were both found at an address in the city after police forced entry following reports of a cannabis farm at the site. A total of 57 cannabis plants were discovered at the address.

Both men were arrested and a search took place on the property and of the men.

Mobile phones belonging to both men were seized. Hoxha’s phone did not have a pin code so police officers were able to access its contents. They found videos showing various cannabis plants.

Evidence revealed Hoxha was involved in similar cannabis farm operations at other locations across the north of England, Danielle Gilmour, prosecuting, told the court.

Both men were interviewed at Trafalgar House police station in Bradford. Hoxha gave no comment to officers, but a statement was read out from Palushi’s legal team. It said Palushi had been smuggled into the UK and was taken to the address in Bradford by men from Albania.

Miss Gilmour said: “Palushi can be distinguished from Hoxha as he had a lesser role.”

Lydia Pearce, mitigating for Palushi, told the court that he came into the UK on the back of a lorry. He had run up a debt that he was paying off by working in the cannabis farm in Bradford.

No mitigation was given during the hearing on behalf of Hoxha.

Both men, both of no fixed address, had no previous convictions, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday (Monday).

Hoxha was jailed for 22 months while Palushi was jailed for four months, which he has already served the criminal custody period for. They each faced a charge of producing controlled drug of class B – cannabis.

They spoke on video link from prison through an Albanian interpreter only to confirm their names during the hearing.

Judge Colin Burn told the men: “It is accepted that Palushi’s role was as a gardener or cultivator of cannabis on behalf of others and was performing a lesser role.

“The clear evidence in Hoxha’s case was that you were towards the upper end of a significant role.

“He was performing an organisational, procurement and management role in this organisation.

"But there is insufficient evidence to suggest you (Hoxha) were leading the organisation.”