Final man from West Midlands crime group who smuggled millions of pounds of cocaine is jailed
The final person in an organised crime group (OCG) with members from Oldbury, Tipton and Birmingham which imported cocaine with a street value of £20m has been jailed.
Jagdeep Singh, aged 43, of Bloomfield Road, Tipton, was jailed for six years and eight months after admitting smuggling class A drugs
Singh was an electrician by trade, and was tasked with taking receipt of drugs deliveries and acting as a warehouseman by the gang, which comprised four other men
He was part of the group who were at the centre of international conspiracies to import huge sums of cocaine into the United Kingdom. At the time of his arrest, on 23 April 2020, he was in possession of 30kg of high purity cocaine
Four other members of the group had been jailed in September last year.
The boss of the group, Kulvir Shergill, aged 43, told NCA investigators he made his money through male escort bookings, teaching martial arts and lucrative personal trainer work.
The truth was his organised crime group was at the centre of international conspiracies to import huge sums of cocaine into the United Kingdom.
Shergill’s men imported around 250kg of cocaine with a street value of £20m between 26 February and 24 April 2020, and used the encrypted communications platform EncroChat to arrange the deals.
Using the EncroChat handle ‘orderlyswarmer’, Shergill, of Bhullar Way, Oldbury, arranged premises in the UK for Class A drugs to be delivered to.
He would liaise with conspirators in the Netherlands who would inform him of impending deliveries before his group distributed them to other organised crime groups around the country.
Shergill and his accomplices were arrested on different dates in 2020.
He denied smuggling class A drugs but eventually admitted the offence.
On 20 September last year he was jailed for 21 years at Birmingham Crown Court.
Also jailed in September last year were: Khurram Mohammed, aged 37, of Barker Street, Oldbury for 14 years and four months. Mohammed was Shergill’s second-in-command and was a trusted worker ;
Shakfat Ali, 38, of Douglas Road, Oldbury, who travelled around the UK on the OCG’s behalf and is believed to have delivered drugs. He was jailed for 16 years and nine months.
And Mohammed Sajad, 44, of Norton Crescent, Birmingham, a trusted member of the group was jailed for 16 years. He was already serving a seven-year sentence before these offences after West Midlands Police, in May 2020, found six firearms, a large amount of ammunition and a quantity of Class A drugs at his house.
Rick Mackenzie, NCA operations manager, said: “These offenders formed a significant crime group in the West Midlands and had far-reaching contacts to help them peddle drugs all around the UK.
“Shergill and his accomplices are directly responsible for the horrendous consequences Class A drugs have among our communities.
“The NCA and partners at home and abroad will continue to fight the threat of illegal drugs.
“Proceeds of crime proceedings have been started and all identified assets owned by the defendants have been frozen and are currently under restraint. The NCA will work with our partners at the CPS to ensure that any money made from their drug enterprise is recovered.”
The NCA lead Operation Venetic, the UK response to the takedown of EncroChat.
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