Lincolnshire drugs gang leader from East Heckington jailed for 18 years

Darren Peters, 51, of Maize Farm, East Heckington, was yesterday (Thursday) sentenced to 18-and-a-half-years in prison at Birmingham Crown Court.

Peters was convicted for conspiracy to supply heroin between June 1, 2016 and March 2017.

He was the final offender to be sentenced bringing the drug gang’s combined sentencing to a total of 160 years.

This follows a year-long investigation by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) into the organised crime group supplying drugs into Lincolnshire, an operation given the police codename of Operation Intruder.

Back in November, 12 members of the gang were jailed for a combined total of 142 years for conspiring to bring cocaine and heroin into the county.

Officers found that a combined total value of £4 million of heroin and cocaine had been supplied by the crime group, from Yorkshire to the East Midlands, in what was a highly organised and efficient running operation.

The investigation led to a four week trial at Birmingham Crown Court at the end of 2017 and trials of issue in August 2018 when 11 members of the gang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and one person was found guilty, Five of the offenders, including Gary Johnson, 41, of Queensway, Potterhanworth, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine

Twelve of the defendants were sentenced on November 13 and 16, 2018, at Birmingham Crown Court, and received the following sentences:

Asif Laher (30), of Banks Street, Batley, Kirklees – 21 years.

Tawqeer Hussain (23), of Carrside Crescent, Batley, Kirklees – 8 years 3 months.

Neil Anthony Greenfield (36), of Lenton Way, Frampton, Boston – 18 years 9 months.

Peter David Needham (42), of Ancaster Mews, Chapel St Leonards – 16 years 9 months.

Mikolaj Porazewski (20), of Ingelow Avenue, Boston – 4 years 6 months

Andrew Patrick Baker (32), of Almond Walk, Boston – 5 years 3 months.

Kasim Hussain (29), of HMP Doncaster – 6 years 9 months.

John Alan Richard Emmingham (34), of John Street, Worksop – 20 years 3 months

Nasarat Mohammed (30), of Swarcliffe Road, Sheffield, (found guilty after trial) – 7 years 6 months

Mohammed Abdul ALI (25) 41, Collister Drive, Sheffield – 4 years 3 months.

Gary Johnson (41), of Queensway, Potterhanworth, Lincoln – 9 years 3 months.

Aaron James Radford (38), of Highbury Road, Bulwell – 19 years

Jason Gooch (42), of Crown Flat Way, Dewsbury, Kirklees, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 14-years at a previous hearing.

Darren Peters was to be sentenced at a later date.

Both Laher and Tawqeer Hussain also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply crack cocaine.

The crown court heard in November 2016, Needham was arrested on the A46, and was found with 2kg of high quality cocaine which had been collected from Radford.

It conspired that Nottinghamshire distributor Radford was supplied by Gooch, who pleaded guilty earlier last year following a trial for a similar offence and was sentenced to 14-years imprisonment for his involvement in both investigations.

Investigations identified that Greenfield, the head of the Lincolnshire gang, and his right-hand man and courier Needham, had met with Radford on at least 23 occasions in relation to the supply of cocaine. It was established that via Radford and others around 20kg of cocaine was supplied to Greenfield for onward distribution to others within Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire including Lincoln cocaine dealer Gary Johnson, of Potterhanworth.

Between June 2016 and March 2017, Asif Laher (released from prison following a previous drugs supplier offence in October 2016) and Tawqeer Hussain were found to be supplying heroin on a commercial scale into Notts and Lincs.

This supply network was arranged and controlled by Lincolnshire gang boss Darren Peters. Peters, through his control of Greenfield, arranged for Needham to collect the Heroin, which was then distributed by Greenfield, Needham and Porazewski to other dealers including Baker, a Boston based heroin supplier and Emmingham, a Worksop based heroin dealer, in what was a sophisticated and organised operation.

Following the arrest of Needham in November 2016, Greenfield stepped into a more prominent role in the heroin supply and became ‘hands on’ in the collection of heroin from the West Yorkshire suppliers Tawqeer Hussain and Laher. Evidence found on electronic devices showed that Laher and Hussain were involved in drugs supply on a vast scale and in March 2018 they both pleaded guilty to a further conspiracy to supply crack cocaine.

At least 20 meetings between Needham, Greenfield and the Dewsbury based suppliers in furtherance of the supply of heroin were identified, all arranged and controlled by Peters.

On February 22, 2018, Greenfield met with Emmingham in Retford, and was then arrested on the A1 north of Newark. Half a kilo of heroin and a significant amount of cash was found; this seizure was forensically linked to Peters, Baker and Emmingham.

Following this Emmingham identified a further supply chain for his heroin. This was a Sheffield based team, led by Kasim Hussain – a serving prisoner at HMP Doncaster.

Hussain coincidentally also sourced his heroin from Laher and Tawqeer Hussain and used members of his own Sheffield gang including Nasarat Mohammed and Mohammed Abdul Ali to supply Emmingham with over 3kg of Heroin. Gemma Doherty was sent to Worksop as a courier to collect the cash prior to the drugs being supplied.

On March 14, 2017, Mohammed and Ali delivered a package to Emmingham following which the police raided his home. Emmingham was observed throwing a package into his own garden which was identified as half a kilo of heroin. Seven other trips were established to have taken place in the preceding weeks.

DI Paul McMahon, of EMSOU, said: “These individuals were responsible for the organised supply of vast quantities of Class A drugs from West Yorkshire into the East Midlands.

“High value organised drugs supply ‘businesses’ bring an increase in acquisitive crime and violence to the communities in this region.

“These convictions show that even in challenging financial times Lincolnshire Police & EMSOU will continue to protect the public by tackling complex serious crime head on.”