Drug dealers with £500,000 cannabis haul are jailed after neighbours sniffed out the drug den and called in police

Two drug dealers growing £500,000-worth of cannabis in their flat have been jailed for a total of more than 13 years after neighbours reported a potent smell to police.

Mohammed Fazal, 27, and Zafran Ali, 19 were using the property as headquarters for their large-scale drugs business on Manchester’s streets.

Alongside 50 cannabis plants, they had thousands of pounds worth of heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine strewn around the place.

The plot unravelled after their neighbours began to notice a permanent smell of cannabis leaking into their home and asked police to investigate.

Greater Manchester Police raided the flat in April and found a large growth facility, where the cannabis plants had recently been harvested.

Police said they were able to link the drugs to Ali, who was later arrested at his home nearby in Oswald Street.

Yesterday, Fazal and Ali pleaded guilty to drug possession and were jailed for eight years and five-and-a-half years respectively at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.

The plants had a wholesale value of £14,250 and a street value of £42,825. Police also found more than 330g of heroin, worth about £33,020, 110g or £5,500 of cocaine, and 121g of crack cocaine with a street value of £12,128.

About 4kg of heroin was found on those premises, hidden in the base of a bed.

Police said the 60 per cent pure heroin was worth £400,000 on the street, but could be cut with other substances to potentially net more than £1 million when sold to users.

Rochdale Organised Crime Unit PC Simon Meekings said the haul would have brought an ‘immeasurable amount of misery’ to the streets of Rochdale.

‘I would like to thank the Rochdale community for their assistance in bringing the illicit operations of Zafran Ali and Mohammed Fazal to the attention of the police,’ he said.

‘The sentences today will no doubt serve as a deterrent to anyone else who think they can make money delving into this abhorrent trade.’

Detective Inspector Lee Hopwood, of Rochdale North, said the case showed law enforcement’s commitment to crack down on drug crime.

‘Drug dealers are a blight on our communities and the police at Rochdale are committed to identifying these individuals and bringing them to justice,’ he said.