Gang That Used Drones For Prison Drops Jailed
Frankie McCamleyHendon Magistrates' Court
Harry LowLondon
A gang that used drones to smuggle drugs, weapons and mobile phones into jails has actually been imprisoned.
An estimated 75% of drone drops across London's prisons was because of the seven guys who targeted jails consisting of Wormwood Scrubs, Brixton, Pentonville and Wandsworth.
Shafaghatullah Mohseni, 29, Hashim Al-Hussaini, 28, Mohammed Hamoud, 22, Faiz Salah, 29, Zahar Essaghi, 51, Mustafa Ibrahim, 30, and Emanuel Fisniku, 25, were sentenced at Harrow Crown Court.
Det Insp John Cowell said: "This highly organised gang believed they were outmaneuvering the cops and prison authorities. What they didn't understand is they went through sustained professional surveillance by Met officers."
All seven males confessed their roles in a "severe, organised, and prolific enterprise" to provide Class B and C drugs, and communicating list A and B into prisons. The hearing was held at Hendon Magistrates' Court, where some Harrow Crown Lawsuit are being heard.
The guys would travel by automobile to the prisons, frequently in the early hours of the morning, and fly bundles filled with contraband through cell windows.
CCTV video footage shows some of the gang attaching fishing wire to a drone which was tied to a plan and melted using a lighter to secure it. This was then flown to the detainees in their cells.
The gang likewise targeted jails in Norwich, Leicester, Onley in Northamptonshire and Bedford.
At the centre of the conspiracy was Mohseni, an Afghan national who was given leave to stay as a kid in the UK in 2003.
He was sentenced to five years and three months and will serve at least 40% of that.
He was described in court as having the leading function behind nearly every drop, organising flights, operating the drones, co-ordinating motorists and lookouts, handling payments totalling more than ₤ 30,000, and communicating straight with prisoners utilizing illicit smart phones inside the jails.
His defence barrister argued the 29-year-old had built up debts of about ₤ 30,000 from a gaming dependency and feared for his security.
The court heard that one drone crashed and was taken by the authorities at HMP Wandsworth.
It consisted of marijuana, capsules of Pregabalin understood as "brand-new Valium", and tablets of Alprazolam commonly sold under the brand name Xanax.
Another package was obstructed inside Wandsworth Prison, after cops alerted personnel of a drone flight to a specific cell. The plan included cannabis, cigarettes and five iPhones.
Financial investigations revealed cash being moved from partners of serving detainees to fund the operation.
Last year, the chief inspector of jails Charlie Taylor cautioned of the increased threat drones would pose for smuggling weapons and drugs into jails.