A man linked to a conspiracy to smuggle heroin worth £1.6 million into Leicestershire remains on the run almost 10 years after police named him as one of the UK’s ‘most wanted’.
Police believe Shashi Dhar Sahnan was a key figure in a meticulously planned conspiracy to import 30kg of the class A drug from Turkey to Leicester in the summer of 2007. The seizure was one of the largest made by Leicestershire Police.
Mr Sahnan went on the run, possibly to Spain, while two brothers from Leicester were arrested and put on trial for their roles in the conspiracy. The brothers were later jailed for a combined total of 43 years and stripped of assets worth hundreds of thousands of pounds under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Mr Sahnan remained at large and was later named by the National Crime Agency as one of the UK’s ‘most wanted’ and was one of the central targets of an operation to flush out suspects believed to be hiding out in Spain.
A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman said: “We can confirm he is still outstanding and we would urge anyone with information about his whereabouts to contact us.”
Leicestershire Police and customs officials intercepted the compressed heroin at a Birmingham freight depot in July 2007. It was concealed in a consignment of chiller units.
Officials removed the heroin and allowed the consignment to continue its journey to Leicester – under police surveillance. Police swooped when it was delivered to a business in Midland Street, in the city centre.
In December 2009, brothers Babu and Bharat Sarsia, both of New Parks, Leicester, went on trial at Nottingham Crown Court and were convicted of drug importation. Babu Natha Day Sarasia, then aged 44, of Brunel Avenue, was jailed for 25 years, while his brother, Bharat Ram Sarasia, then aged 45 and of Darlington Road, received an 18-year sentence. The brothers’ trial heard that they had previously managed to smuggle in a further nine consignments of the drug – concealed using the same method and thought to be worth around £10 million. Detective Constable Kevin Hames told the Leicester Mercury at the time: “This was a well organised plot to smuggle large quantities of high-grade heroin into the country and on to the streets of Leicestershire. The chiller units themselves cost between £2,500 and £4,000 each and were imported purely to cover up the drugs operation. They were not sold on or used for anything. The fact they were happy to spend between £40,000 and £80,000 just on hiding the drugs goes to show the size of the operation.”
