These were the luxury watches worn by a father and son as the pair were caught at Manchester Airport. Asim Tufail and Junnaid Tufail were waiting in the departure lounge in Terminal one to board a flight to Dubai when officers struck.
The pair, both gun runners and drug dealers, were ‘in it together’, prosecutors said. Asim was wearing a diamond encrusted Rolex worth £70,000, with his son wearing a £11,000 Rolex. The 52-year-old drove an expensive car and made ‘large cash purchases’, including a splashing out £10,000 on a home gym, Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
Asim was jailed for 23 years after a judge said he was involved in crime ‘at a very high level indeed’. His son is due to be sentenced at a later date.
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Prosecutor Tim Storrie KC said there was ‘no record’ with revenue and customers of Asim being paid for legitimate work. Mr Storrie said: “The reason for his income was this, he was operating among a criminal network with interests in the international laundering of money, trafficking in drugs, sourcing guns, ammunition and other lethal weaponry for his contacts.
“Such were his links to other criminal entities that he also acted on their behalf in enforcing debts.” Junnaid Tufail, 23, said he saw his father as his ‘role model’, and ended up following him into crime. Asim had spent much of his son’s childhood in jail, after previously being sentenced to 14 years for drug dealing. But his release Asim simply carried on committing crime.
Asim’s barrister Elouise Marshall KC said there was an ‘element of bravado’ and ‘showing off’ in his EncroChat messages. “For all his talk, very little actually took place,” she said. “His role was not as great as the Crown might like to suggest. They weren’t really ever in a position to provide firearms.”
Junnaid had no previous convictions. His barrister Khadim Al’Hassan described the defendant as a ‘Walter Mitty character’ who had been ‘taken for a ride’ himself. He said: “This offending has effectively demonstrated, I hope, that dipping his toes into the big boy league has burnt him.” Mr Al’Hassan said the defendant had experienced a ‘difficult’ childhood and had spent time in care.
Asim Tufail, of Kenmore Road, Northenden, was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs, three counts of conspiring to sell or transfer a prohibited weapon, two counts of blackmail and one count of money laundering. He was found not guilty of one count of being concerned in the production of class B drugs.
Junnaid Tufail, of the same address, pleaded guilty after his trial had started to one count of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and two counts of conspiring to sell or transfer a prohibited weapon.
Two other men were sentenced as part of the case. Danny Parmar, 42, dealt in cocaine and cannabis and was also involved in a firearm plot with Asim Tufail, EncroChat messages revealed. He was jailed for nine years.
Peter Lawler, 53, had been recruited as a courier to collect a gun as part of a deal involving Asim. He said he didn’t know the specifics of what was being couriered. Almost half a kilo of heroin was found at Lawler’s property in Liverpool when he was arrested, which he said he was ‘minding’ for someone else. He was jailed for four years and four months.
Parmar, of Ashbourne Avenue, Bolton pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis and one count of conspiring to sell or transfer a prohibited weapon.
Lawler, of Eton Court, Allerton, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of an organised crime group, and possessing heroin with intent to supply.
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