Couple from Luton and Dunstable jailed for a total of 34 years after Trident operation

Rebecca Chin, 31, of Cookfield Close, Dunstable and Ali Adil Parvez, 31, of Easingwold Gardens, Luton were jailed for a total of 34 years at Snaresbrook Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday).

Chin was jailed for 13 years for conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs. Parvez was jailed for 15 years for the same offence and given an additional six years for firearms offences. Both Parvez’s sentences will run consecutively.

The sentencing follows a proactive investigation by the Trident and Area Crime Command into drugs supply in Newham borough.

On 16 July 2015 officers had observed the pair, who were boyfriend and girlfriend, putting two bags in Chin’s car in a car park in East Ham. Stopping the car near junction 11 on the M1, as Chin returned home, officers found the bags contained quantities of cocaine and cannabis.

Chin was arrested and a search of her home recovered further quantities of cocaine and cannabis, as well as heroin, cash and drugs paraphernalia.

Parvez was arrested later that day and a search of his home recovered yet more cash and a small quantity of cocaine.

The pair - both UK nationals - were charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs, conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and possession of criminal property on 17 July 2015.

The ‘street value’ of the drugs recovered was £2,476,800 for the heroin, £400,635 for the cannabis and £199,820 for the cocaine.

Following the arrests, detectives linked a car belonging to Parvez to the delivery of two firearms and ammunition in Hackney on 18 February 2015.

The weapons were seized the following day, and another man was jailed for a total of five years in June 2015 for possessing the guns and ammunition.

This delivery was later found to have been carried out by Chin under the direction of Parvez. Chin and Parvez were further charged on 30 September 2015 with nine firearms offences, including possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition and the sale/transfer of firearms and ammunition.

Chin and Parvez pleaded guilty to the drugs and criminal property offences at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 11 December 2015. Parvez pleaded guilty to the nine firearms offences on 2 June 2016.

The judge agreed that the firearms charges against Chin should lie on file.

Detective Inspector Steve Meechan, from the Trident and Area Crime Command, said: “The substantial custodial sentences handed down by the court today should act as a significant deterrent to those involved in criminal and gang related activity.

“These convictions were part of a complex operation by Trident officers to target organised criminal networks that are using firearms to enforce their drug trafficking activity.

“Trident has a zero tolerance approach to firearm enabled criminality, gang crime and drug supply. We will continue to work with our partners, including the National Crime Agency, to disrupt such criminality, and aim to convict those who perpetrate it.”

The seizure of the heroin was linked to a National Crime Agency investigation for which nine people were jailed for a total of 118 years.