Daniaal Ghafoor had the class A drugs on his Market Street property.
The 29-year-old was employed by the County Lines network and used a mobile phone to send multiple messages advertising the sale of crack cocaine and heroin to addicts.
Greater Manchester Police’s dedicated County Lines Team launched a covert investigation dubbed Operation Jig to determine who was supplying drugs in and around Rochdale.
When Ghafoor was apprehended, a warrant was served at a home on Snowdon Street. Ghafoor was inside, carrying 16 wraps of heroin and 32 wraps of crack cocaine.
A second warrant was executed at the Market Street property where the large amount of drugs were discovered.
Ghafoor was arrested on suspicion of possessing crack cocaine and heroin with the intent to supply and did not respond to any of the questions posed to him while in custody.
He was later charged and pleaded guilty to the charges.
Ghafoor appeared in Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday, February 3, 2023, and was sentenced by a judge.
“The investigation focused on gathering intelligence around the identity of the person using the graft phone,” said Detective Chief Inspector Claire McGuire. We were able to identify Ghafoor from that phone as the person advertising the sale of class A drugs to vulnerable users, which was his role for the County Lines network. We are determined to identify and pursue individuals like Ghafoor who profit from the supply of drugs, which frequently involves the exploitation of vulnerable people and young children.
While we will continue to target these criminals, we cannot always achieve the results we have today without the public’s help. I therefore encourage anyone who suspects drug activity in their neighbourhood to contact police at 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously at 0800 555 111..
