A CRIME boss mum who led a multimillion-pound smuggling ring with her children has been jailed.
The siblings were recruited into smuggling the drugs into the UK and were busted with of cocaine in their luggage.
UnpixsThe group made five separate trips into Birmingham Airport[/caption]
UnpixsOfficials recovered 180 kilograms of cocaine when they arrested the family gang[/caption]
Farzana Kauser, 54, talked five of her children into carrying the cocaine from Cancun in Mexico to Birmingham Airport.
At the time of the offences, between August and November last year, two of Farzana’s children were teenagers.
The gang are alleged to have used an elaborate method to smuggle the drugs into the country.
Kauser and five other gang members pleaded guilty to smuggling 180 kilograms of high purity cocaine into the UK from Mexico.
The illicit powder held a massive street value of nearly £5 million.
Two further gang members pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of an organised crime group.
Between August and November the defendants brought in five loads of cocaine using the same method each time.
They would book short trips to Dublin or Amsterdam without taking luggage.
Return flights were specifically timed to coincide with the arrival of flights from Cancun.
When the smugglers arrived at Birmingham Airport on their return trips they would then collect luggage filled with cocaine from the Cancun flights instead of from their own.
The brazen smugglers would then waltz through customs carrying the bags as if they were their own.
The group was busted when National Crime Agency officers arrested six defendants outside Birmingham Airport with six suitcases containing approximately 180 kilograms of cocaine.
Farzana Kauser is said to have orchestrated the conspiracy, involving her children and relatives.
Only one of the defendants was not a family member, Khaled Abdulkawi.
UnpixsFarzana Kauser roped her children into smuggling the high purity cocaine[/caption]
Abdulkawi acted as a courier, collecting drugs on behalf of another organised crime group.
Farzana Kauser was jailed for 13 years and four months, Safa Noor, 19, from Bradford was jailed for seven years and two months.
Mohammed Aamir Shaffaq, 28, from Bradford, was jailed for eight years and nine months.
Umair Mohammed, 22, from Bradford, was jailed for eight years and one month, Junaid Shaffaq, 33, from Bradford, was jailed for ten years and nine months.
Khaled Abdulkawi, 36, from Halesowen in Dudley was jailed for ten years and nine months.
Hamza Shaffaq and Sarah Hussain pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of an organised crime group.
Hamza Shaffaq, 18, from Bradford, will be sentenced in October.
Sarah Hussain, 27, from Bradford, was handed a two year sentence suspended for two years.
Sarah Ingram, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was a sophisticated and well-planned operation to flood the UK with high-purity cocaine worth millions of pounds.
“What makes this case particularly concerning is the family nature of the conspiracy, with a mother recruiting her own children to participate in serious organised crime.
“The defendants thought they had devised a foolproof method to import drugs, but thanks to the vigilance and thorough investigation by the National Crime Agency and our prosecution, their criminal enterprise was brought to an end.
“By taking this organised crime group out of action, large amounts of drugs have been removed from circulation and can no longer reach our streets.
“This case demonstrates the commitment of the Crown Prosecution Service and law enforcement partners to disrupting drug supply chains and bringing those involved in serious organised crime to justice.”
Rick Mackenzie, NCA senior investigating officer, added: “To her friends and people who thought they knew her, Farzana Kauser was a thoughtful, loving mum who seemed very normal.
“She was very well practised in her life as a high-end cocaine trafficker and she took great pains to delete any trail of evidence.
“She led this crime group with dedication and determination, often instructing her children on how to smuggle the drugs effectively and on what techniques to employ.
“She pushed her children into huge danger and has allowed their futures to be effectively destroyed.
“Her youngest son was just 17 when he was encouraged to play a major role in couriering drugs into the country, drugs that wreck countless lives across the UK in their links to violence, addiction and other crimes.
“The NCA works side by side with partners at home and abroad to combat the threat Class A drugs pose to the UK.”
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