A 'fantastic father' was exposed as an international drug dealer who traded in guns and helped funnel vast amounts of dirty money abroad. Sidaquet Sadiq, 38, was the latest criminal to be unmasked after the law enforcement hacking of a secretive phone network favoured by organised crime gangs.
Sadiq was known as 'Mayweather.TMT' within EncroChat and was involved in supplying at least 25 kilos of class A drugs, heroin and cocaine, within a six week period, Manchester Crown Court heard. He was found to have been speaking about a potential cocaine deal with an EncroChat user based in Columbia, prosecutors said.
Sadiq, from Salford, also laundered at least £1.6 million in criminal cash, helping dirty money to be sent to Europe or the Middle East, and discussed the sale of guns within the encrypted network. He has now been jailed for 18-and-a-half years.
Jailed at the same hearing was Junaid Ahmed, 26, a 'trusted' courier who had an adapted Skoda with a secret compartment to store drugs. He was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison.
Prosecuting, William Beardmore said: "Operation Ninian was an investigation into an organised crime group that was involved in the importation and the supply of class A drugs across the country, international money laundering and the commercial supply of firearms and ammunition."
EncroChat messages revealed Sadiq was asked by one user: "Any hand things left." Sadiq replied: "I think one, send driver to grab it." Prosecutors claimed he had 'access to multiple firearms and ammunition for sale'.
In another message Sadiq discussed a potential cocaine deal with an EncroChat user based in Columbia. He replied in April 2020 by saying: "Mate its ok we not working the tp ofline but I try sale to another group."
Mr Beardmore said he was referring to 'transport issues' caused by the national coronavirus lockdown. He said there was no evidence to suggest that Sadiq had arranged for the cocaine to be sold on to others, but that it revealed the 'level at which it was perceived that Sadiq operated within the criminal underworld'.
Defending, Imran Shafi KC said Sadiq had never been to prison before he was remanded in custody. Mr Shafi said Sadiq's absence had a significant impact on his wife and children.
Sadiq was described as a 'fantastic father'. He is said to have vowed to go straight once released from prison.
"He has reflected upon his life and his behaviour, he has resolved to turn his back completely on his previous life," Mr Shafi said. Defending Ahmed, Richard Simons said the defendant performed a 'limited role under direction' and had no previous convictions.
Sentencing Judge Nicholas Dean KC said: "You Sidaquet Sadiq, were involved in the drugs and firearms trade in the spring of 2020. It is clear that you were operating as a business.
"As a sideline in effect to your dealing, you were also involved in dealing in firearms." Sadiq, from Salford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs, money laundering, conspiracy to sell or transfer firearms and conspiracy to sell or transfer ammunition. Ahmed, of Esmond Road, Cheetham Hill, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
'An integral player in the organised crime landscape'
After the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Claire McGuire, of GMP's Serious and Organised Crime Group, said: "Seeing Sidaquet Sadiq put behind bars for such a significant period of time is a fantastic result following weeks and months of meticulous work to ensure he was brought to justice for the sheer scale of his offending. Sadiq was an integral player in the organised crime landscape - not just in Greater Manchester but across the country - and he was responsible for the supply of potentially lethal weapons, copious amounts of ruinous class A drugs, and the movement of dirty money on behalf of himself and other unscrupulous individuals.
"The takedown of EncroChat has provided GMP with the opportunity to potentially remove hundreds of organised criminals from our society, and Sadiq is definitely one of those at the high-end of this bracket; he would refrain from a hands-on role as to avoid being caught. Instead, he would look to naïve and trusted couriers like Junaid Ahmed who was actively complicit in Sadiq's exploitative trade that remorselessly destroyed lives and damaged communities, and ultimately he is fully deserving of the time in jail he will now begin to serve."
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