Father and son sentenced for £20m heroin haul seized in Birmingham

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Colin Bartlett, aged 54, and Lee Bartlett, aged 30, of Bordesley Green in Birmingham were part of an organised crime group that used a front company with a fictitious director to import pomegranate juice laced with heroin in shipping containers from Afghanistan.

A consignment of heroin weighing more than 420kg and with a street value of £20,350,000 was recovered from a shipping container in Birmingham in May 2023. 

As part of a NCA probe officers were watching as the two men and 11 paid workers began to unload the container which contained 2.6 tonnes of pomegranate juice. The drugs were hidden within the liquid and mixed with legitimate juice bottles.

They were arrested in a swoop at the scene. 

The pair were previously found guilty of participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group at Birmingham Crown Court in August and were sentenced on November 21(Fri).

Colin Bartlett was jailed for two years suspended for two years while Lee Bartlett was jailed for to 18 months imprisonment suspended for two years.

NCA Branch Commander Derek Evans said: “These men were part of an organised crime group seeking to import huge quantities of heroin into the UK, potentially generating millions of pounds of criminal profit and endangering vulnerable people across the country.

“Tackling class A drug trafficking is a priority for the NCA and we will continue to do all we can to stop those who try to import it.”

The NCA is once again appealing to members of the public to help track down two men wanted as part of the ongoing investigation. The agency said Shamut Khan, aged 56, and Matiullah Zamankhel, aged 23, both from Washwood Heath also in Birmingham are wanted for failing to answer bail in November 2023.

“These men are known to have associations and links to the Alum Rock and Shaw Hill Road areas of Birmingham, but they may be further afield.

“Khan and Zamankhel will know they are wanted by the NCA and should be absolutely certain that we won’t rest until we have tracked them down.

“If members of the public do see Khan and Zamankhel, we ask them to contact us straight away.”

“We know these men come from a close-knit community and we would like to remind anyone helping them, or frustrating our attempts to locate him, that they could also find themselves being arrested,” he added. 

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Khan and Zamankhel should contact the National Crime Agency immediately on 0370 496 7622 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Thedramatic video shows the moment NCA officers arrest cannabis smugglers in a previous operation in 2024.