Dramatic video has been released showing the moment Met police officers busted an east London drugs gang.
Cops are seen bursting into a flat where they uncovered significant quantities of class A drugs and cash, along with three firearms belonging to the 'Specs' drugs line.
The Specs line gang had dominated the sale and supply of class A drugs in Bethnal Green, servicing thousands of drug addicts by flooding the area with 14kg of crack cocaine and heroin.
But following a two-year Metropolitan Police investigation, 16 members of the group have now been jailed - for more than 100 years combined.
Ringleaders Nefur Miah and Muhammed Ismail Ali were handed the longest prison sentences of 17 years and seven months and 12 years and six months respectively.
The Met launched the investigation following an increase in crime and a surge in reports about drug dealing in the area, with residents reporting dealing openly taking place on street corners and within children's parks.
Operation Knotweed targeted the runners on the streets and those at the top of the gang to fully eradicate it.
Plain-clothed officers followed known gang members seen brazenly selling class A drugs to users in Bethnal Green, with detectives using this to build a wider picture of the gang and identify those higher up in the command structure.
Despite attempts by those involved to evade police monitoring by routinely switching their mobile phones off, officers conducted detailed and extensive analysis of phone data, with call records and location data mapped for more than 50 mobile phones.
These phones linked the gang to a stash address in Barking, which was searched by police in 2022.
PC Shah Haque, who led the investigation said: “The streets of London will be safer with this gang behind bars. I hope the long sentences provide reassurance to the community in Bethnal Green and beyond that we will work relentlessly to pursue the groups who bring drugs, weapons and violence to our communities.
“The sheer scale of our investigation – two years of detailed analysis of phones as well as covert surveillance, shows the scale of the criminality and our commitment to getting these dangerous people off our streets.”
Full list of convictions:
Nefur Miah, 38 - Sentenced to 17 years and seven months for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Muhammed Ismail Ali, 38 - Sentenced to 12 years and six months for conspiracy to supply A drugs and conspiracy to possess a firearm.
Emran Hussain, 42 - Sentenced to 11 years and six months for conspiracy to supply class A drugs and conspiracy to possess a firearm.
Rezwanual Choudhury, 30 - Sentenced to nine years for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Shanoor Ahmed, 40 - Sentenced to eight years for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Delowar Ahmed, 40 - Sentenced to six years for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Faieq Islam, 35 - Sentenced to five years and seven months for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Reece Duncombe, 39 - Sentenced to three years and nine months for being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.
Mominul Hoque, 40 - Sentenced to two years and eight months for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Liton Miah, 37 - Sentenced to two years and four months for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Michael Issit, 43 - Sentenced to two years, suspended for two years, for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Shabab Baksh, 29 - Sentenced to two years, suspended for two years, for being concerned with the supply of class A drugs.
Saeed Abdullahi Ahmed, 42 - Sentenced to two years suspended for two years, for being concerned with the supply of class A drugs.
Nizam Uddin, 42 - Sentenced to two years, suspended for two years, for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
