Birmingham drug dealer's jail term extended after plot to supply firearms
A jailed heroin dealer has had his sentence extended after trying to secure a reduced prison sentence by setting up a firearms supply deal.
It follows an NCA investigation that established that Ameran Zeb Khan, aged 47, conspired with members of a Birmingham-based gang that he controlled to reduce his sentence.
Khan shared a prison cell with his nephew and lieutenant, Sarweeth Rehman, aged 29, where they communicated with three men on the outside: brothers Kaibar Rahman, aged 28, of Acocks Green, Akbar Rahman, aged 43, of Sparks Hill, and Ahmed Hussain, aged 29, of South Yardley.
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Khan had hoped to buy up to 20 firearms and used illicit mobile phones acquired by Rehman within prison to look up search terms such as '38 special handgun', 'Mac 9 2018 gun', 'UK police airport gun', and 'AK47'.
The pair devised code words such as 'cars', 'car parts', 'makeup' and 'pineapples', to represent various firearms, other weapons and ammunition as part of their communication with other gang members.
They also used the phone to search the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005, which offered the prospect of a reduced prison sentence in exchange for intelligence on matters of interest to law enforcement.
Official prison landlines were also used to communicate with Khan's wife, Gulsha Ara, aged 45, of Bordesley Green, between July and September 2018.
This was to instruct the Rahman brothers on how to buy the weapons.
Ara also communicated with Rehman when he obtained another illicit phone after moving to a different prison.
In September 2018, NCA officers seized a converted blank-firing handgun and 16 rounds of 8mm ammunition from a car which was stopped on Whitmote Road, Small Heath.
The driver, 28-year-old Iqrar Zamir, from Alum Rock, was arrested for possession of firearms and ammunition and subsequently convicted to five years' imprisonment in 2019.
Analysis of his mobile phone shows that he had been communicating with Hussain and Akbar Rahman before being arrested.
The NCA, working alongside West Midlands Police, arrested all those on the outside in September 2021.
Khan had led a group of drug smugglers who were jailed for a total of almost 140 years in July 2017, after importing £10 million of heroin from Pakistan to the UK via the London Gateway Port in 2014.
He was jailed for 22 years, and hoped that providing intelligence he offered on the firearms and ammunition would persuade authorities to reduce his sentence by around 10 years.
He and Rehman intended to pass the details of the purchased firearms to NCA officers.
Khan, Sarweeth Rehman, and the Rahman brothers pleaded not guilty to firearms and ammunition charges during a previous hearing at Birmingham Crown Court.
Ahmed Hussain was due to stand trial on June 30 of last year; however, he later changed his plea to guilty.
At the same court today, Khan and Rehman were both sentenced to an extra six years in jail, while the Rahman brothers were both sentenced to six years and eight months imprisonment.
Hussain was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, whilst Ara was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
Paul Boniface, NCA Operations Manager, said: "Ameran Khan tried to concoct a plan to win an early ticket to freedom.
“It was a cynical plot designed to trick the authorities into thinking he was offering valuable intelligence about the purchase and transfer of highly dangerous weapons.
“These would have had terrifying consequences for the public, as illegal firearms only serve to intimidate, incite violence and damage communities.
“This case also demonstrates that the trades in class A drugs and firearms are often intrinsically linked.
“Preventing access to illegal firearms remains a priority for the NCA and its partners, as well as the prosecution of those responsible for and involved in their supply and control at all levels."
