Frankie McCamleyHendon Magistrates' Court
Harry LowLondon
A gang that utilized drones to smuggle drugs, weapons and cellphones into prisons has actually been imprisoned.
An approximated 75% of drone drops throughout London's prisons were due to the 7 men who targeted jails including 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 stated: "This extremely organised gang thought they were outmaneuvering the cops and jail authorities. What they didn't know is they went through sustained professional surveillance by Met officers."
All seven men admitted their functions in a "serious, organised, and prolific enterprise" to supply Class B and C drugs, and communicating list A and B short articles into jails. The hearing was held at Hendon Magistrates' Court, where some Harrow Crown Court cases are being heard.
The men would travel by cars and truck to the jails, frequently in the early hours of the morning, and fly plans filled with contraband through cell windows.
CCTV video footage shows some of the gang attaching fishing wire to a drone which was connected to a plan and melted utilizing a lighter to secure it. This was then flown to the detainees in their cells.
The gang also targeted prisons 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 child in the UK in 2003.
He was sentenced to 5 years and three months and will serve a minimum of 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, dealing with payments totalling more than ₤ 30,000, and interacting directly with detainees utilizing illegal cellphones inside the jails.
His defence barrister argued the 29-year-old had developed debts of about ₤ 30,000 from a betting dependency and feared for his security.
The court heard that one drone crashed and was taken by the authorities at HMP Wandsworth.
It contained cannabis, pills of Pregabalin called "new Valium", and tablets of Alprazolam commonly offered under the brand Xanax.
Another bundle was obstructed inside Wandsworth Prison, after police informed staff of a drone flight to a specific cell. The plan contained marijuana, cigarettes and five iPhones.
Financial examinations showed cash being transferred from partners of serving detainees to fund the operation.
Last year, the chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor alerted of the increased danger drones would posture for smuggling weapons and drugs into prisons.