A man has been jailed for eight years after pleading guilty to a string of offences related to organised crime.
Raja Adib Sarwar, 46, from Court Road, Grangetown in Cardiff appeared at Newport Crown Court charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs, as well as possession and concealment of criminal property.
Mr Sarwar was arrested as part of Operation Balinese, a South Wales Police investigation into an organised crime group suspected of being involved in the large scale distribution of heroin.
Last year in July officers seized 373 grams of heroin, with a total street value of £37,260, after it was intercepted being driven from Sheffield to the South Wales area. Sajid Quasim was subsequently convicted of possession with intent to supply and is currently serving a three year term of imprisonment.
Mr Sarwar was later arrested, in October, near Leckwith Retail Park in Cardiff where he was in possession of a black and white carrier bag containing £6975 in cash.
Last Thursday (February 13) he appeared at Newport Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to all charges, including the supply of class A drugs which related to the heroin that police had originally seized last July.
His Honour Judge Neil Bidder Q.C said Sarwar was a “professional criminal” and a main organiser of heroin into South Wales. He sentenced him to eight years imprisonment for conspiracy to supply class A drugs, and three years concurrently for possession of criminal property (cash and vehicle) and concealment of criminal property (monies held in bank accounts).
The court concluded that Sarwar had made more than £183,000 from his criminality and he was ordered to pay £69,291, which is the amount of his realisable assets, within the next three months.
Detective Superintendent Dorian Lloyd, Head of South Wales Police’s Force Intelligence and Organised Crime Unit, said:
“Organised crime is something we take very seriously and South Wales Police is fully committed to identifying, targeting and dismantling organised criminal groups and to strip them of their assets.
“The conviction of Sarwar is an example of such focus and we will continue to relentlessly target those individuals involved in organised crime and prevent the effects of such criminality being experienced within the communities of South Wales”.
Sarwar was previously convicted for two years and three months in 1993 for robbery and offences of intending to pervert the course of justice. In 2008, he was also sentenced to six years for supplying heroin and possessing heroin with intent to supply.
