Drug dealer who continued to run enterprise from confines of prison cell given more time in jail
A drug dealer who continued to run his empire from the confines of his prison cell has been given an additional 20 years in jail.
Omar Din, 36, went on the run for six years after police began an investigation into his activities in 2013.
An international arrest warrant was issued, and he was eventually detained whilst travelling from Istanbul to Sweden, and was convicted in 2021 of two conspiracies to supply Class A drugs, cocaine and heroin.
After pleading guilty he was sentenced to seven years and three months in jail, but despite his sentence he continued to run his drugs operation.
An orange exercise roller, which smelt strongly of cannabis, was recovered from under his bed during a cell search in August 2023, with an iPhone and charger cable found inside.
The phone was handed to Greater Manchester Police, where detectives uncovered evidence it was being used to supply drugs and was controlled by Din.
Although no outgoing messages were recovered, an examination of the phone revealed 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, which police say showed "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.
Experts estimated the volume of drugs Din was involved in to be between 18 to 27 kilograms.
Din answered no comment when questioned by police.
He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs, at Manchester Crown Square Crown Court, and was jailed again for 20 years.
Detective Inspector James Coles from GMP's 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.”