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CHIPS DOWN FOR DRUG DEALERS
Fish shop cannabis racket smashed in police sting
A CANNABIS-dealing racket that operated from a popular Holloway chip shop has been smashed by police and two men who fronted the operation sent to jail.
A court heard this week how, among the battered saveloys, pickled eggs and fish cakes at the Lancaster Fish Bar in Holloway Road, Ziaulhaq Nawabi, 20, and Ozgur Saskara, 28, used the busy takeaway as a base to sell bags of the herbal Class C drug.
They were snared by an undercover police sting when plain-clothes officers bought drugs on 19 separate occasions last year.
The pair were jailed yesterday (Thursday) at Wood Green Crown Court after unwittingly dealing to undercover officers, selling them £20 bags of cannabis.
Although their main business was selling ‘herbal cannabis’, the court heard how, on three occasions, when asked by officers for £50 to £60 wraps of cocaine, the dealers made arrangements by phone to supply the drug.
Judge Peter Ader sentenced Nawabi, of Russell Road, Tottenham, an Saskara, of Glenarm, Hackney, to three-and-a-half and four years respectively.
The court heard how the undercover police, working under the pseudonyms of ‘Kate’, ‘Alan’ and ‘Wayne’, successfully brought drugs off the pair on 19 separate occasions in November and December.
The police team, working as part of a bigger Met operation, was able to walk in off the street to buy the drugs.
Mr Nawabi pleaded guilty to 14 counts of supplying cannabis and one of supplying cocaine with a street value of £50, while Mr Saskara admitted to two countsof supplying cocaine and one of dealing cannabis.
A third man, Ercan Irki, who lives in Essex, will be sentenced in June.
Defending Mr Nawabi, Meeta Rughani told the court how his client became a street dealer purely for financial gain, being the sole provider for his mother.
He said: “Mr Nawabi is quite clearly at the lower end of the chain of supply. He’s at the coal face, he actually hands the drugs over.
He accepts how stupid he’s been, he accepts he did it for financial gain.
“He’s an only child. He realises a prison sentence is not only going to impact on him but also on her (his mother). He was an intelligent young man. He’s become involved as a street dealer at the behest of his employer to earn more money.”
Jonathan Page, counsel for Mr Saskara, said his client had turned to dealing to fund his habit, adding the case was “full of people who are innocent parties, who’ve been dramatically affected by his behaviour”.
He said the father-of-one provided vital support to his mother, adding: “The Saskara family have been under considerable strain. Because his younger brother was born with Down’s Syndrome, it’s become particularly difficult as he’s got older. That strain has been so great that in 2001, Mr and Mrs Saskara divorced which, in the Turkish community, is very rare.
He pleaded with Judge Ader not to deport him to Turkey, despite the fact that he has indefinite leave to remain in England.
Judge Ader told the men that having considered their personal circumstances, he would not be recommending deportation to the Home Office. |
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