Evington drug dealer among Leicester gang jailed for wholesale drug operation
[Picture: Leicesatershire Police]
A drug dealer who ran a multi-million-pound cocaine network from his Leicester home since 2018 has been jailed. Sarju Khushal traded Class A drugs worth more than £2m across Leicestershire. The 30-year-old, formerly of Hazeldene Road, Hamilton, was caught after police received information about drugs being transported from Lancashire into Leicestershire in 2022, leading to the arrest of several individuals linked to the drug supply chain.
Khushal was sentenced to 11 years in prison for his role in a wholesale drug network. He was found to have supplied over 19kg of class A drugs worth more than £2 million. His operation was discovered during an investigation by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU),
A drugs expert valued 2kg of cocaine found during the investigation at around £76,000 wholesale, with a potential commercial value of £120,000 and street value approaching £250,000.
Three people who were part of an organised crime group supplying drugs at a ‘wholesale’ scale have been jailed for their part in the operation including Mohammod Jahed, 30, previously a resident of Coleman Close, Evington Leicester. Jahed was a dealer who supplied significant quantities of drugs, which he purchased from Khushal, returning substantial sums of money to Khushal in return.
Khushal would buy cocaine and heroin in bulk, then split that stock up and supply both other drug dealers and users. He used his home address, where he lived with his partner Saffron Franklin, to operate his business.
Franklin assisted Khushal by taking and sending money and moving drugs for others to collect. As a result, she enjoyed some of the benefits of this criminal enterprise. Khushal paid for holidays for the two of them, giving 30-year-old Franklin cash to deposit into her account and having joint possession of the cash found at the address.
During searches of their home address officers recovered a large quantity of class A and B drugs, drugs paraphernalia, numerous devices and cash.
At trial, it was said Khushal had been involved in the supply of more than 19kg of Class A drugs, with a street value of more than £2m.
Numerous images and text messages evidencing the supply of drugs were found on his mobile phone which showed that he supplied significant amounts of cocaine and heroin.
Examination of the evidence also identified Kenneth Galloway, Mohammod Jahed and Kian Senior as being involved in the supply of controlled drugs. Galloway, 31, formerly of Myrtle Road, Leicester, was involved in dealing cocaine and heroin, selling those drugs both at street level and to other dealers. He was supplied the drugs by Khushal.
When Galloway was arrested four mobile devices were seized, three of these were found to contain a wealth of messages consistent with being involved in dealing class A drugs. One of the mobile devices was found to contain images of cash and drugs.
Senior, 31, formerly of Thorpe Field Drive, Leicester, was similarly a dealer who supplied significant quantities of drugs, having sourced them from Khushal. When Senior was arrested two bags of cocaine were recovered, along with digital scales which were swabbed and found to contain residues of cocaine. Designer clothing, jewellery and cannabis gummies were also recovered from his home.
A sixth defendant, Reece Bell, 34, formerly of Broughton Road, Leicester, pleaded guilty in 2025 but failed to appear in court for sentencing at the time. In August last year he was subsequently jailed for three years and seven months for possession with intent to supply class A drugs and possession of criminal property.
Detective Sergeant Chris Sewell was the senior investigating officer in the case, he said: “The investigation, which began in 2023, has resulted in six people involved in the supply of class A and B drugs being convicted and jailed for more than 40 years between them.”
Source:
- https://www.leics.police.uk/news/leicestershire/news/2026/may/wholesale-drugs-network-jailed-for-more-than-40-years/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqjpg10zldzo
- https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leicester-drug-dealer-ran-2m-10003253
- https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leicester-drug-dealer-ran-2m-10003253
