Drug dealer who continued his illicit enterprise from jail, jailed again

A man who was already serving a lengthy sentence for drug offences has now received an additional sentence of 20 years for his major involvement in a prison drugs plot.

Yesterday (Monday 1 October), Omar Din (11/02/1988) of no fixed abode appeared at Manchester Crown Square Crown Court to be sentenced, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

In 2021, Omar Din was convicted of two conspiracies to supply class A drugs, namely cocaine and heroin. Following an investigation by GMP in 2013, Din went on the run for six years to evade detection. An international arrest warrant was issued, and he was arrested whilst travelling from Istanbul to Sweden. He was detained by police, where he had two phones and around £2500 cash on him.

He was left with little choice but to plead guilty and was sentenced to seven years and three months in jail.

As he acclimatised to life in jail, he continued with his criminal career from the confines of his cell.

On 15 August 2023, he was subject to a search of his cell, where he stated he had no unauthorised items such as mobile phones and drugs.

The prison officer recovered an orange exercise roller which smelt strongly of cannabis from under his bed. The foam roller was taken away to be searched, and they also recovered an iPhone and charger cable from inside it.

The phone was handed to Greater Manchester Police, and detectives from our Serious Organised Crime Group launched an investigation. It soon became clear that this phone was being used to supply drugs and was controlled by Omar Din.

Whilst no outgoing messages were recovered from the device, an examination of the phone showed extensive incoming correspondence from different parties showing Din was involved with a large scale drugs conspiracy, and he was facilitating the sale of large quantities of drugs from prison with an established criminal network on the outside.

From the messages recovered by police, Din and his associates were also discussing future international business opportunities, showing Din had no intentions of slowing down or stepping away from crime, despite his circumstances.

Messages also showed they were sharing debtor lists, locations of drug deals, and discussing large volumes of cash and class A drugs, creating volumes of incriminating evidence for detectives.

On Thursday 4 April 2024, after the mobile phone was analysed, Din was questioned in prison by detectives. Despite answering no comment to all the questions put to him, it was evident from the messages that Din sat at the top of the conspiracy which was involved in the supply of cocaine. Experts estimated the volume of drugs Din was involved with to be between 18 to 27 kilograms.

Over the last 12 months GMP have continued to work closely with colleagues from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit and HM Prison and Probation Service to combat and target those involved in serious organised crime from prison.

In April this year (2024) we successfully launched a dedicated initiative codenamed Operation Gatehouse which is a partnership response to tackle serious organised crime across the four Greater Manchester prisons.

The operation involves resources from all agencies working together to target the key threats in each of the prisons including the illicit smuggling of contraband and illegal items, the use of drones to transport commodity, and associated violence.

Detective Superintendent Andy Buckthorpe, who is leading Operation Gatehouse, said: “The impact of organised crime in prison not only impacts the prison estate but overlaps into the wider communities who fall victim to the drugs trade and associated violence.

“To date, this operation has led to several arrests and recoveries of illegal commodities and contraband both within the prisons and in the areas around the prison estate. This operation is in its early days, but we remain committed to working with partners to continue our pursuit of those who offend in prison, facilitate the transfer of commodities into prisons, or facilitate these offences and harm our communities.”

Detective Inspector James Coles from our Serious Organised Crime Group said: “Omar Din has not used his time in prison to rehabilitate, rather he has continued to build on his illicit enterprise. He was fully aware of the illegalities of his actions, but regardless, he sought to profit from the trade of these highly destructive commodities.

“He had several trusted associates on the outside who he directed to do the dirty work, with the scope of the conspiracy spanning international borders. He showed no signs of slowing down, with connections in Holland, Hungary, Morocco, and Albania, so I welcome this sentence today and the impact it will have on the organised crime group.

“By removing Omar Din from the chain of command, we will have disrupted their operation, and we continue to identify those below him so we can dismantle the entire organised crime group.”