Kebab shop owner 'spearheaded plan to import £63m of heroin in wooden tables'

A kebab shop owner headed a drugs gang that imported £63m ($88m) worth of heroin into the UK concealed in wooden tables, a court was told.

Fikri Yarasir who owns Yummy's pizza and kebab shop in Glossop, Derbyshire, is accused of trying to import 210kg of the Class A drug, alongside six others at Manchester Crown Court.

Prosecutors allege that the 53-year-old was the head of an organised criminal gang that smuggled 420 half kilo packets into the UK on 19 August 2017.

The jury was told that the lorry containing the drug arrived at a storage unit in Salford after coming through Dover from Turkey.

The court heard how police raided the unit in Cobden Street, Salford, as part of Operation Cartoon, and found tables and chairs with cellophane around them.

The drugs were discovered with prosecutor Joanne Rodikis saying "clearly, those unloading were not actually interested in the furniture itself, just what was hidden inside it" according to the Manchester Evening News.

The court was told that once the 42 tables were dismantled the drugs were found in 10 half kilo sized packages of the drug.

Prosecutors allege that Yarasir flew to Istanbul to arrange the consignment and used other defendants to hand over the money.

It is alleged that Paul Livesey, 46, and Kathryn Fearon, 33, both of Abbey Hey Lane, Gorton, Manchester, went to Turkey with to pay for the drugs.

David Mulligan, 26, of Hengist Street, Gorton, also to help set up a property in Rhyl, where the drugs would be prepared for sale, it is alleged.

Also charged is Charles McKenna, 50, of Ornsay Walk, Openshaw, and Steven Hindley, 27, of Kinmel Bay, Rhyl, and Brian Kennedy, 36, of Gallacher Avenue, of Fife, Scotland.

Another man, Ahmet Taskin, 45, of Middleton Road, Wood Green, London, who was once employed at Yummy's allegedly helped Yarasir store the drugs, the court was told.

Yarasir claims he was "exploited" by Taskin who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import heroin and conspiracy to supply heroin before the trial.

All seven defendants have pleaded not guilty to two offences, one of conspiracy to import heroin and one of conspiracy to supply heroin.

The trial continues.