GMP secures imprisonment of first man for possession of a readily convertible firearm, with three other men jailed for their roles in OCG
Four men from Oldham have been jailed for over 11 years collectively for their involvement in an organised crime group (OCG) dealing in class B drugs and possessing a readily convertible firearm. Sufiaan Ali received a four-year sentence for firearm possession and drug supply, while Omar Abu-Sharkh, Mohammed Jalal Aftab, and Qais Rasul were sentenced for drug-related offenses. The investigation, led by GMP's County Lines Team, uncovered a Telegram-based drug channel targeting children with synthetic cannabinoids. The operation also recovered firearms, cash, cryptocurrency, and other assets linked to the OCG.
Four Oldham men who ran a Telegram drug channel selling dangerous synthetic cannabinoids to children have been jailed for a combined 11 years and three months after police uncovered a cache of weapons, drugs and cryptocurrency worth thousands.
Sufiaan Ali, 19, of Hardy Street, received the longest sentence of four years after officers caught him throwing a convertible firearm into a neighbour’s garden during a dawn raid on February 6. The weapon was recovered alongside hundreds of vials of THC liquid, a machete and £1,000 cash.
The investigation revealed Ali led an organised crime group operating the “TenTenLiquids” channel on Telegram, which marketed flavoured vape liquids containing synthetic cannabinoids to young people. The substances, sold as “THC liquids”, can cause severe side effects similar to spice and have proven fatal in some cases.
Omar Abu-Sharkh, 19, of Lees Road, was sentenced to three years and four months, while Mohammed Jalal Aftab, 20, of Hayfield Close, received two years. Qais Rasul, 19, of Tynwald Street, was jailed for two years and three months. All three pleaded guilty to supplying class B drugs and possession of criminal property.
The network unravelled after police seized 76 Turkish-manufactured blank-firing weapons during a national amnesty in February, four of which were surrendered in the final days before ownership became illegal on March 1. Greater Manchester Police has now recovered 315 viable firearms since April 2021, with 119 being converted blank firers.
Detective Sergeant John Schofield said: “Criminals are now targeting their drug dealings to younger people on social media, packaging the vapes to appeal to kids. What started out as an investigation into a drugs line ended with a viable firearm being removed from the streets.”
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