Riaz Mohammed, used a string of front companies to ship the highly addictive narcotic from Turkey.

Riaz Mohammed, used a string of front companies to ship the highly addictive narcotic from Turkey.The Court heard the "sophisticated" operation involved hiding half-kilo packages of the Class A substance in the hollowed out struts of wooden pallets. But despite the gang's best efforts each of the three importations - two to Dover docks and one which arrived at Heathrow airport - were intercepted during an investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca).Altogether 24kg of the drug - with an estimated street value of £2.3 million - was seized.
In the dock with Mohammed, 41, of Lancaster Road, Leytonstone, east London (25 years), were his lieutenant Ibrahim Janturk, 52, from Tottenham, north London (22 years), and "footsoldiers" Cetin Albar, 35, who lived in Clapton Common, east London, and Emircan Aytac, 48, of Boyson Road, Walworth, south-east London, who got 16 years each.Mohammed was convicted by a jury of three counts of conspiracy to import heroin and one of plotting to supply the drug between January 2005 and August the following year, while Janturk was found guilty of three import conspiracies.Aytac admitted four heroin import conspiracies and Albar three.Passing sentence, Judge Christopher Hardy: "You were all involved in this evil trade to systematically exploit human weakness and those who may suffer addiction, degradation and death."You also indirectly caused a large proportion of crime carried out by addicts to fund their addiction."He added he was recommending that Turkish national Albar be deported after his sentence.