BBC News, West Midlands
National Crime AgencyA man who claimed he made his money working as a male escort was actually the leader of a gang which smuggled cocaine worth £20m, investigators discovered.
Kulvir Shergill, 43, of Oldbury was jailed for more than 21 years after he eventually pleaded guilty to smuggling class A drugs, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
Four other members of the gang were also jailed, including Jagdeep Singh, who was sentenced to six years and eight months at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday.
The gang imported around 250kg of cocaine with a street value of £20m in 2020 and used the encrypted communications platform EncroChat to arrange the deals.
Shergill told NCA investigators he made his money through male escort bookings, teaching martial arts and lucrative personal trainer work.
But investigators found he arranged premises in the UK for Class A drugs to be delivered to.
He would liaise with conspirators in the Netherlands who would inform him of impending deliveries before his group distributed them to other members around the country.
Singh of Tipton was in possession of 30kg of high purity cocaine at the time of his arrest.
The 43-year-old was an electrician and was tasked with taking receipt of drugs deliveries and acting as a warehouseman.
NCAThree other members were jailed in September:
- Khurram Mohammed, 37, of Barker Street, Oldbury, was also jailed for 14 years and four months.
- Shakfat Ali, 38, of Douglas Road, Oldbury, travelled around the UK on the gang’s behalf and is believed to have delivered drugs. He was jailed for 16 years and nine months.
- Mohammed Sajad, 44, of Norton Crescent, Birmingham, was jailed for 16 years. He was already serving a seven-year sentence before these offences.
Rick Mackenzie, NCA operations manager, said: “These offenders formed a significant crime group in the West Midlands and had far-reaching contacts to help them peddle drugs all around the UK.
“Shergill and his accomplices are directly responsible for the horrendous consequences Class A drugs have among our communities.”
