A gang of drug dealers who used lorries to distribute millions of pounds worth of cocaine around London have been jailed. Bert De Jong, 59, of the Netherlands, Hussain Sakhi, 22, of Laughton Road, in Northolt, Ealing, and Zaibaa Zahur, 21, of Harlington Road, Uxbridge, in Hillingdon, were sentenced on Monday, May 19 at Kingston Crown Court.
A fourth drug dealer, Justyn Morris, 23, of Upper Lees Road, Slough, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, March 11 to conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of cocaine and conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Lorries would stop outside of London and the drugs were collected and sent to “retail suppliers” on a weekly basis. Nearly half a ton of cocaine worth up to £17 million was supplied by the gang who have been sentenced for a combined 47 years.
A Met Police interception found that Morris had transported 70kg of cocaine, worth between £1.75 million and £2.45 million. Morris had driven from a holiday home he booked in Norwich to an industrial estate where he was given three cardboard boxes by De Jong, who was waiting for him in a lorry.
The three boxes were then found hidden behind black cladding by Met Officers. Sakhi and Zahur went to the holiday let later that day, to ‘view’ the property which raised suspicion, leading to the officers arriving and searching the pair.
A phone was found and showed messages between Sakhi and an unidentified contact, who Morris had also been in contact with. All three were arrested by the Met that day and charged on July 18.
An investigation by police showed the gang had been involved in an extensive drug dealing operation. Drug ledgers kept by the gang showed they moved nearly 500kg worth.
De Jong would bring the drugs into the country from the Netherlands and Morris would pick them up and pass them to Sakhi and Zahur, who would then distribute them.
Police arrested De Jong when he entered the country again on July 23. While he claimed to have no knowledge of what he was bringing into the country, evidence on his phone showed that he would send “tokens” to his counterparts which implied the drugs had been delivered.
Detective Constable Leon Ure, of the Met’s Specialist Crime South team who led the investigation, said: “This has been a complex and lengthy investigation to dismantle a group supplying drugs across London. It has been part of a wider, proactive drug operation led by the Specialist Crime South team.
“This investigation shows the breadth of work the specialist crime unit deals with and I’d like to thank every officer who was involved in the case.
“Drug dealing has a huge impact on Londoners. It fuels further crime and impacts the heart of our communities.
“Their sentences are fully deserved and I hope this acts as a deterrent to those thinking about bringing in illegal drugs to the country.”
All four of the gang were found guilty of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of cocaine and conspiracy to supply cocaine, following a four-week trial at Kingston Crown Court on Monday, April 7. Sakhi and Zahur were also found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine.
De Jong was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. Zahur was sentenced to six years and 10 months’ imprisonment Sakhi was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment. Morris was sentenced to 12 years and six months’ imprisonment.
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