Thaindian News

London, Aug 3 (IANS) A man in Britain who once earned a reputation as a drugs counsellor among school children and inspired undergraduate law students has turned out to be one of Britain’s biggest heroin dealers.

Mahfooz Ahmed, 35, was a role model for youngsters, graduating in law and spending years counselling school children about the dangers of drugs, Daily Mail reported.

He used to visit schools as part of a government-funded scheme and would talk about the risks of drug use and support addicts in his home town of Halifax, west Yorkshire.

Having graduated in accountancy and law in 2000 from De Montefort University, Ahmed worked for 14 months as a project coordinator on behalf of the department of health and the University of Central Lancashire. He researched drug use in parts of Halifax among minority groups.

He went on to work for a voluntary-sector organisation until April 2003, providing one-to-one support for drug addicts.

Confronted with some financial difficulties, Ahmed turned his hand to drug dealing and soon became a key player in a huge Europe-wide drugs ring, Leeds Crown Court heard.

When British customs officers first found 1.36 million pounds worth of heroin in a suitcase Ahmed was allegedly carrying, he fled and spent the next five-and-a-half years living in Wembley, Perth and Glasgow.

Ahmed was finally caught last October in a supermarket car park in north London.

Sentencing Ahmed for possessing heroin with intent to supply, judge Jonathan Bennett said it was “appalling” that he had been willing to become involved in the drugs trade after seeing its effects first hand.

On Wednesday, he began a 12-year jail term.