Lying in bed fast asleep, completely unaware of who was waiting outside, she looked up, covered in a white duvet, her eyes bloodshot, as officers from Greater Manchester Police forced their way into her bedroom.
Waqas Ullah was one of seven men jailed for their roles in the crack and heroin conspiracy. The Bury-based group used an abandoned red Toyota Yaris to store a line of Class A drugs called the ‘ACE’ line.
Each day, the phone would be collected and dropped off at the car by different dealers and couriers, all within sight of leader Hasan Hussein. The 34-year-old would ‘supervise’ deliveries at the end of his day’s shifts and was busy directing couriers while he operated the line himself.
READ MORE: 38,635 text messages and 30,340 calls: Inside the life of a drug lord who monitored his empire from home
His brother Asam Hussain, 29, also took part in the transfer of the drugs line between day and night shifts, accompanying his partner Mohammed Shah Ahmed as a drug mule during the day shift. Over five months, up to five kilos of crack cocaine and heroin were advertised for sale through the drug line, with a value of up to £500,000.
Between January and June 2023, the hotline sent 38,635 text messages, of which around 12,000 were returned, with a total of 6,673 calls made and 23,667 received. However, following undercover surveillance and mobile phone analysis by GMP officers, the ‘well-organised’ plot soon collapsed with officers knocking on the doors of those involved.
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Hassan Hussain was arrested at his home where officers found a Tag Heuer watch in a wardrobe; £15,490 in cash; and a sword. HMRC records showed he had declared no income between 2017 and 2023.
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Asam’s fingerprints were found on plastic bags used to package crack cocaine at a property in Devon Street.
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Nasir Ali, 30, was said to be a facilitator at ACE Line, responsible for taking orders and directing couriers to meet customers. When he was arrested, officers found a Nokia phone and £1,120 in cash.
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Waqas Ullah, 33, who is also a facilitator and courier, was found to be running the ‘day shift’ using his grey BMW.
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Another courier, Ali Akbar Azam, 33, used his home as a ‘storage house’. When he was arrested, officers found a machete and £2,420 in cash in the boot of his car.
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Mohammed Shah Ahmed, 28, acted as a courier and was responsible for selling drugs from his car under the management of Hassan Hussain and Nasir Ali. Officers found £1,250 under a mattress in the master bedroom of a house in Braemar Drive and £8,000 in a wardrobe and drug paraphernalia.
“A total of £27,070 was seized from the address,” prosecutors said. “HMRC records show Mohammed Shah Ahmed failed to declare any income between 2019 and 2023.”
Shakar Ali, 25, was a courier working the ‘night shift’ while driving his white Hyundai taxi ‘undercover’. He would often go to locations where customers would board his taxi to make drug purchases, accompanied by Azam.
During the arrest, officers found designer watches worth £2,000 in his taxi and £8,500 in his wardrobe. HMRC records showed Shakar Ali had declared no income between 2021 and 2023.
Detective Chief Constable Prince, of Greater Manchester Police, said: “Operation Tagula was an investigation into the ACE drugs hotline, where members of an organised crime group were supplying class A drugs in the Bury area of Greater Manchester.
“The sentences handed down today put members of this criminal organisation behind bars and send a clear message to those who seek to contaminate the community of Bury with their criminal activities that this will not be tolerated and we are determined to bring offenders to justice and to tackle the damage that organised crime does to our communities.
“Programme Challenger is Greater Manchester’s response to tackling serious and organised crime. It tackles all types of serious crime: county lines, exploitation of young children and vulnerable adults, modern slavery, immigration and economic crime and the use of firearms. Our Challenger teams across Greater Manchester are committed to addressing county lines and we will take action to tackle serious and organised crime on a sustained basis, following any concerns or information given to us by the community.”
Full sentences
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Hassan Hussain, of South Bank Road, Bury, was jailed for 17 years
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Asam Hussain, of South Bank Road, Bury, was jailed for 10 years
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Nasir Ali, of Whitburn Drive, Bury, was jailed for six years and nine months
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Shahir Ali, of March Drive in Bury, was jailed for six years
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Ali Akbar Azam, of Parkhills Road, Bury, was jailed for nine years
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Mohammed Shah Ahmed, of Braemar Drive, Bury, was jailed for five years and four months
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Waqas Ullah of Bury Road, Radcliffesentenced to four years and six months in prison