EIGHT Bradford men have been jailed for a total of almost 62 years as part of a multi-million pound drugs gang supplying heroin and cocaine across West Yorkshire.

A 13 month covert police operation saw £1.9 million worth of Class A drugs seized, and the 14 men involved jailed for a total of more than 94 years.

As well as 27 kilograms of heroin and cocaine, cannabis, £116,000 in cash and high value items including Rolex watches were taken from the criminals.

Kashif Tahir, 38, and Toseef Tahir, 29, both of Grange Avenue, Thornbury, were among the first four people arrested on May 25, 2017, and were found in possession of 1kg of heroin and 2kg of mixing agent.

At the same time Jon White, 31, of Durham Avenue, Doncaster, and Peter White, 50, of Yew Tree Crescent, Doncaster were arrested in a vehicle nearby waiting with £16,500 in cash to buy the drugs.

All four were charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and convicted on November 24, 2017. Kashif Tahir was jailed for six years and Toseef Tahir was jailed for five years and four months, as was Peter White, while Jon White was jailed for five years.

READ MORE: This isn't the first time Kashif Tahir has been in trouble over heroin

Brian Kilgallon, 33, of Parkstone Avenue, Leeds was arrested on May 30, 2017, when officers raided an address and seized 1kg of cocaine and £20,000 in cash, jewellery and clothing. He was convicted of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and money laundering and jailed for four-and-a-half years.

A 20-year-old woman from Leeds was also convicted of money laundering and handed 100 hours community service in relation to the same incident.

On July 3, 2017, Mohammed Faisal, 27, of Roslyn Place, Shearbridge, was stopped in Barkerend Road and was in possession of almost 3kg of heroin. He was convicted of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and jailed for six years, five months.

Three other Bradford men; Fateh Laher, 30, of Hollybank Gardens, Great Horton, Khawer Maqsood, 32, of Curzon Road, Barkerend, and Mohammed Adam Laher, 27, of Leeds Old Road, Thornbury, were then linked to the incident and charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs on July 3, 2017.

Laher and Maqsood were both jailed for 14 years on July 31, 2018, and Mohammed Adam Laher was also jailed for five years and eight months.

On July 25, 2017, officers saw a package being exchanged between the occupants of a Vauxhall Astra and Skoda Superb in a car park in Scunthorpe.

Nivaldo Montiero, 23, was arrested from the Astra near the car park and found in possession of 1.1kg of cocaine and £2,000 cash. He was jailed for five-and-a-half years for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

The driver of the Skoda Superb, Shafiq Rafiq, 38, of School Lane, Dewsbury, was jailed for seven years and two months for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

On September 26, 2017, a Mercedes-Benz was stopped in Beeston, Leeds and two Bradford men who were in the car were found to have 2kg of high purity heroin and £3,800 in cash on them.

Mirza Bilal, 29, of Parkwood Road, Shipley, and Idris Khan, 28, of Ashgrove, Shearbridge, were both convicted of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs on April 17, last year. Bilal was jailed for six years, and Khan for four-and-a-half years.

Then, on September 28, 2017, a Ford Transit van was stopped in Butt Lane, Farnley, and the driver, Ashley Gibson, 27, of Heights Drive, Armley was found to be carrying 1kg of high purity cocaine. He was convicted for possession with intent to supply and was jailed for five years.

On March 2, 2018, a Mitsubishi Shogun was stopped in Bradford and police found 2kg of import grade cocaine in the car. The two occupants - Fateh Laher and Khawer Maqsood - were arrested and a search was carried out at a house in Curzon Road.

Officers discovered a drugs factory and recovered 11.5kg of import grade cocaine. Empty wrappings for a further 15kg of Class A drugs valued at £1.5 million had they been full were also discovered, along with rubber gloves, scales a large amount of cash and 24kg of mixing agent.

An industrial scale cash counting machine was also found - which had counted around £5m in bank notes in two years. The total street value of Class A drugs recovered from the house was £1.1m.

Laher and Maqsood both plead guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. Maqsood’s brother, Shahid Maqsood, 35, was given a two-year suspended sentence for allowing the premises to be used as a drugs factory.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Walker, of the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “This was a significant operation which has resulted in these individuals now having to spend a long time in prison to consider the consequences of their actions.

“Illegal drugs are a scourge on the communities we serve but these sentences should send out a warning to those involved or thinking of getting involved in the illegal supply of drugs.

“It should also help to reassure our communities that we do and will take action against those involved in this vile trade.

“This is done through a mixture of overt policing as well as the significant work that goes on that members of the public (and the criminals) don’t see.”

Work like this is carried out as part of the Force Programme Precision, a crackdown by the force and partners on serious and organised crime which is estimated to cost the UK economy around £37 billion every year.

If you suspect illegal drug activity in your area contact police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. You can also contact the charity www.fearless.org online to report information using an untraceable form.