An East London man has been sentenced for his role in a £3 million cocaine trafficking operation orchestrated from a prison cell. Kamrul Raju, 30, of Edwin Street, Stepney Green, received a two-year suspended sentence after admitting to assisting in the facilitation of serious and organised crime. He was also ordered to complete 240 hours of unpaid work and pay £2,000.
Prison-based drug empire
The plot was masterminded by Imran Ali, 34, of Bedfordshire, who was already serving an eight-and-a-half-year sentence at Norwich Prison. Ali continued to run his drug empire from behind bars, using an associate on the outside who communicated via the encrypted EncroChat system. Between March 2020 and August 2021, Ali oversaw the supply of 32 kilograms of cocaine, valued at £3 million.
Ali's sentence was increased by 17 and a half years after police uncovered his ongoing criminal activities. The breakthrough came when law enforcement cracked EncroChat's encrypted software in 2020, linking the external device to Ali's prison phone.
Investigation and impact
Investigation Officer Gary Hales of Bedfordshire Police stated: “It is clear that Ali is the head of a multi-million-pound Luton-based cocaine supply chain. Despite being in prison, he was consulted about deals being made and used his contacts to set up deals from within his cell. Ali’s nickname, ‘Immy’, appeared repeatedly across EncroChat data in discussions of deals.”
Hales added: “We know that drugs are at the heart of much of the exploitation and violence we see across Bedfordshire so by convicting people like Ali who are at the head of these operations we are making the county safer and protecting our communities. The length of this sentence, added to his previous sentence, reflects the severity of Ali's offences and his plan to bring in such a significant quantity of drugs. He is an extremely dangerous operator.”
Sentencing and community safety
The case highlights the challenges of preventing organised crime from within prisons. Raju's role in facilitating the plot has been addressed with a suspended sentence, while Ali's extended incarceration aims to disrupt the drug supply chain. Authorities continue to monitor encrypted communications to combat similar operations.
