A CONVICTED heroin smuggler who tried to secure a reduced prison sentence by setting up a firearms supply from his prison cell has had his sentence extended.
Ameran Zeb Khan who was serving a 22 year sentence hoped intelligence he offered on the firearms and ammunition would persuade authorities to reduce the sentence by around 10 years under terms of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the 47-year-old shared a prison cell with his nephew and lieutenant, Sarweeth Rehman, 29, and they communicated with three men on the outside; brothers Khaibar Rahman, 28, of Acocks Green, Akbar Rahman, 43, of Sparks Hill, and Ahmed Hussain, 29, of South Yardley.
Khan hoped to buy up to 20 firearms and used an illicit mobile phone acquired by Rehman within prison to look up terms such ‘38 special handgun’, ‘Mac 9 2018 gun’, ‘UK police airport gun’ and ‘AK74’.
Official prison landline phones were used to communicate with Khan’s wife, Gulshan Ara, 45, of Bordesley Green, between July and September 2018.
This was to instruct the Rahman brothers on how to buy the weapons.
In September 2018 NCA officers seized the converted blank-firing handgun and 16 rounds of 8mm ammunition from a car which was stopped in Whitmore Road, Small Heath.
The driver, 28-year-old Iqrar Zamir, from Alum Rock, was arrested for possession of firearms and ammunition and subsequently convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment in early 2019.
Khan, Rehman and the Rahman brothers pleaded not guilty to firearms and ammunition offences during previous hearings at Birmingham Crown Court.
They changed their pleas to guilty in October 2024, just before they were due to stand trial at the same court.
Ara also admitted a charge of participating in criminal activities with an organised crime group.
Ahmed Hussain was due to stand trial last June but changed his plea to guilty.
Khan and Rehman were both sentenced to an extra six years in jail, while the Rahman brothers were both sentenced to six years and eight months imprisonment, and Hussain to five years’ imprisonment. Ara was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.
Paul Boniface, NCA Operations Manager, said: “Ameran Khan tried to concoct a plan to win an early ticket to freedom.
“It was a cynical plot designed to trick the authorities into thinking he was offering valuable intelligence about the purchase and transfer of highly dangerous weapons.
“These would have had terrifying consequences for the public, as illegal firearms only serve to intimidate, incite violence and damage communities.
“This case also demonstrates that the trades in class A drugs and firearms are often intrinsically linked.”
