Bradford drugs supplier Faaris Zaman caught hiding in loft

Faaris Zaman was said to have played an “enthusiastic” part in what Bradford Crown Court heard was “premier league crime”.

The money funded his lifestyle in Dubai, where he would blow large amounts of money on fine dining, clothes, gambling, and even his own wedding last year.

Prosecutor Julian Jones told Bradford Crown Court that Zaman was one of hundreds of people arrested as part of Operation Tileseed.

It fell under the umbrella of the broader Operation Venetic, when the National Crime Agency (NCA) cracked an encrypted communications service known as EncroChat used exclusively by criminals.

Using the unique handle “oraclewarrior” Zaman used the end-to-end encrypted mobile phone app to coordinate his part in a massive organised crime conspiracy involving almost 30kg of cocaine and heroin worth £1.3 million.

The NCA shared images of these drugs (Image: NCA)

He was also found to be laundering money, with £185,000 in cash found in boxes in the basement of his parents’ home in Ashgrove, Little Horton.

He was arrested and interviewed on July 2, 2020, but answered “no comment” to questions.

Mr Jones said a mobile phone showed “he was dealing in large multiples of kilos of cocaine [worth] hundreds of thousands at a time with other organised criminals.

The NCA shared images of a large quantity of cash that was seized (Image: NCA)

“It was premier league crime and the messages revealed he was a significant and trusted operator.”

Zaman then fled the UK and was said to be “retired and living in Dubai”.

However he was just 23 at the time, had no lawful taxed income in the UK, and the court heard that his income was derived from drug-related money laundering.

Following the period of the police investigation between March 27 and July 3, 2020, he was in Dubai but occasionally came back to the UK in a “clandestine” manner to avoid the NCA. He was arrested again in October 2023 after returning to Bradford via a flight to Ireland.

The NCA shared images of these drugs (Image: NCA)

He was located in the loft of his parents’ home following a three-hour search.

He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and possession of criminal property in that he conspired with others to handle £1.3m.

Zaman’s involvement extended to 20kg of cocaine and 7.5kg of heroin, though the prosecution said an expert witness indicated the quantities of drugs involved were actually much larger: 48kg of cocaine and 20kg of heroin.

Mitigating, Oliver Cook said Zaman, a man of previous good character, accepted he had occupied a significant role in the drugs conspiracy that had brought disgrace on his family. He said he had taken steps to reform himself whilst in custody and had showed “real remorse” for his involvement.

The prison sentence

Sentencing Zaman to 11 years and seven months in prison, Mr Recorder Ian Mullarkey said: “You were repeatedly offering Class A drugs for sale on a kilo and multi kilo basis.

“You were making sales, you were commenting on the quality of the drugs which were provided to you, as well as also collecting drugs monies.

“In short, you were playing a full, active and enthusiastic part in the drug-dealing operation.

“Moreover your enthusiasm extended to money-laundering, which you engaged in on a vast scale acquiring a vacuum-packing machine for the purpose.

“You used sophisticated methods or technologies in order to avoid or impede detection by the use of the EncroChat system, and this offending was also part of a conspiracy.”

He sentenced Zaman to 11 years and seven months for each count of conspiracy to supply, to run concurrently, and six years for possessing criminal property, also to run concurrently.

He will serve up to half of those sentences in custody before being released on licence.

'We will continue our work'

Nigel Coles, operations manager at the National Crime Agency (NCA), said: “Faaris Zaman has suggested he played a lesser role in this drugs supply network but this was high level serious and organised criminality.

“The NCA is committed to protecting the public against criminals like Zaman, who fuel the illegal drugs trade, and will continue in our work to bring them to justice.”

What is Operation Venetic?

Operation Venetic has been the UK’s deepest ever penetration of organised crime groups by the NCA.

Over 10,700 years of sentences have been given to offenders.