By James Simons-
A Bolton businessman was leading a double life as a drugs boss, importing and selling millions of pounds worth of cocaine, heroin and cannabis, Bolton Crown Court court heard.
Irtiza Bashir, who drove a Bentley and owned two luxury homes in Lostock, was allegedly involved in a conspiracy to smuggle huge quantities of cocaine from Holland, packed in frozen chickens to a cold storage unit in Blackburn.
Cops say Bashir as identified as a key player among drug dealers after they discovered information from encrypted EncroChat phones and came across pictures sent by a user with the handle ‘Weststreet’.
They showed his luxurious detached home at Lostock, which he shared with his mother and teenage son, and he was believed to be a successful businessman earning his money through his entrepreneurial skills.
Neil Fryman, prosecuting, told the jury how the EncroChat phone system is secretive, expensive and used internationally by criminals.
Several messages were passed using it between ‘Weststreet’, which the prosecution allege is 45-year-old Bashir and Sohail Ali, aged 37, of Blackburn, using the handle ‘Liquidemu’.
The jury was told Ali, who has pleaded guilty to involvement in the drugs conspiracy, acted as a courier under the direction of Bashir and, at one stage, was described as an “idiot” by him for having tradesmen carrying out work at his home while he had £1million of cocaine stored there.
“Stop having work done at your house. You’ve got 25 Tops (kilos of cocaine) about you,” Ali was told.
“A lot of thought and detail is discussed between conspirators as to how to move drugs around and how to secrete them,” Mr Fryman told jurors.
The infiltrated mechanism revealed Bashir to have boasted about the magnitude of his dealings to a fellow drug dealer on one occasion, jurors were told. Bashir told another EncroChat user: “Mad though,1kg of Tops (cocaine) is worth the same, almost, as a kilogram of gold.”
When Bashir’s business, Haslingden-based Globe Recycling Services Ltd, his Bolton’s home and Ali’s house were raided on December 16 last year there were also plans being formulated to smuggle more cocaine into the UK from Holland.
“The importation of the cocaine included an extensive plan. The setting up of a drugs importation route from Holland, involving the packing of cocaine within frozen chicken and transporting this to a cold storage unit in the Blackburn/Accrington area,” said Mr Fryman.
“A unit was successfully located and was due to be fitted with a cold store and food licences were to be obtained.”
The court heard how the gang plotted to give the business a legitimate front by selling chickens locally. A member Ali’s family was to run the business with ‘Weststreet being a silent partner, jurors heard.
“The Crown’s case is this defendant is both a good businessman and a major drug dealer, “ said Mr Fryman.
Bashir denies conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis, conspiracy to import cocaine and cannabis and conspiracy to launder criminal cash.
He claims that ‘Weststreet’ in the EncroChat information is not him.