PREVIEW

Police in Blackburn, Lancashire ensured criminals who smuggled £17.2 million worth of cocaine inside blocks of Gouda cheese did not get a-whey with their crimes. The ‘big cheeses’ in the criminal scheme, Saleem Chaudhri, 46, and 28-year-old co-defendant Rieddul Mohabath were jailed at Preston Crown Court. Chaudri was sentenced to 27 years in jail after pleading guilty to conspiring to supply cocaine and money laundering while Mohabath admitted conspiring to supply cocaine and was today jailed for 16 years. On 3 May 2023 detectives raided the 46-year-old’s unit at the Old Fire Station in Blackburn and found £17.2 million haul of cocaine, much of which was hidden inside blocks of Gouda cheese. The police claim that between September 2022 and May 2023 Chaudhri agreed to sell over 2000 kilos of cocaine worth over £70 million.