Jailed heroin smuggler tried to secure reduced jail term by setting up firearms supply to inform NCA
Ameran Zeb Khan conspired with other gang members on the outside in a bid to reduce his original 22-year sentence
A convicted heroin smuggler was caught setting up a firearms supply which he planned to inform authorities about in turn for a reduced prison sentence.
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Ameran Zeb Khan instead had his jail term extended after he was found to have conspired with members of a Birmingham-based gang that he controlled.
The 47-year-old was already serving time in a prison cell with his nephew and lieutenant, Sarweeth Rehman, 29, and they communicated with three men on the outside - brothers Khaibar Rahman, 28, Akbar Rahman, 43, and 29-year-old Ahmed Hussain.
The group used an illicit mobile phone to research the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005, which offered the prospect of a reduced prison sentence in exchange for intelligence on matters of interest to law enforcement.
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Khan planned to purchase up to 20 firearms and used the phone to look up terms including "38 special handgun," "UK police airport gun," and "AK74."
Khan and Rehman also devised code words such as "cars," "car parts," "makeup" and "pineapples" to represent weapons and ammunition as part of communication with other gang members.
Official prison landline phones were also used to communicate with Khan's wife, Gulshan Ara, 45, between July and September 2018.
This was to instruct the Rahman brothers on how to buy the weapons.
In September 2018, National Crime Agency officers seized the converted blank-firing handgun and 16 rounds of 8mm ammunition from a car.
Its driver, Iqrar Zamir, 28, was arrested for possession of firearms and ammunition and subsequently convicted and sentenced to five years' imprisonment in early 2019.
Analysis of his mobile phone showed that he had communicated with Hussain and Akbar Rahman before being arrested.
All gang members on the outside were arrested in September 2021.
Khan led a group of drug smugglers jailed for a total of almost 140 years in July 2017 after attempting to import £10m of heroin from Pakistan to the UK via London Gateway Port in 2014.
He was jailed for 22 years, and hoped intelligence he offered on the firearms and ammunition would persuade authorities to reduce the sentence by around ten years under terms of the SOCPA.
He and Rehman intended to pass on details of the firearms supply to NCA officers.
On Tuesday at Birmingham Crown Court, Khan and Rehman were both handed an extra six years after admitting firearms and ammunition offences.
The Rahman brothers were both jailed for six years and eight months, Hussain for five years, and Ara was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, suspended for two years.
Paul Boniface, NCA Operations Manager, said: "Ameran Khan tried to concoct a plan to win an early ticket to freedom.
"It was a cynical plot designed to trick the authorities into thinking he was offering valuable intelligence about the purchase and transfer of highly dangerous weapons.
"These would have had terrifying consequences for the public, as illegal firearms only serve to intimidate, incite violence and damage communities.
"This case also demonstrates that the trades in class A drugs and firearms are often intrinsically linked.
"Preventing access to illegal firearms remains a priority for the NCA and its partners, as well as the prosecution of those responsible for and involved in their supply and control at all levels."