National Crime Agency
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Checkmate for chessboard drug dealer
A drug dealer who took delivery of 2.5kg of heroin concealed inside a chessboard has been sentenced at Southwark Crown Court yesterday to three years in prison.
John Awan, 33, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import the heroin, estimated to have a street value of around £250,000.
Border Force officers carrying out checks on mail received from abroad found the heroin in a package from Turkey addressed to Awan. The drugs were concealed inside two wooden chess boards.
John Awan and the chessboard used to smuggle 2.5kg of heroin
Officers from the National Crime Agency and Metropolitan Police, through the joint Middle Market Drugs Partnership team (MMDP), began an investigation and watched as the parcel was delivered to Awan’s home in Chelmsford Road, north London, on 6 February. Awan took the package to a flat in North Bourne House, Compton Crescent, where officers moved in. They arrested Awan and another man, who has since been acquitted.
MMDP are now keen to speak to a third man in connection with the case. Zacharia Ayom was inside the flat at Compton Crescent when the chessboards were being opened. As officers prepared to go in and make the arrests, he left the address and ran off.Awan was charged with conspiracy to import drugs.
Ayom is 40-years-old, black, 6ft 5ins, of heavy build and has a scar on the right side of his forehead.
Adrian Cooke, from MMDP, said: “There’s no doubt that the heroin concealed in these chessboards would have headed straight out for sale to Awan’s network all over London.
“We are extremely keen to speak to Ayom and find out what part he played in this. I’d urge him to come forward.
"If you know of his whereabouts, don’t rely on someone else giving us the details, please get in touch."
Anyone with information about Ayom should contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or National Crime Agency on 0370 496 7622. Information can also be given anonymously via an online form at crimestoppers-uk.org.
The MMDP brings together officers from the National Crime Agency and Metropolitan Police Service to protect the communities of London from the harms inflicted by drug dealing.
