A family who lived life of luxury 'funded by drugs' jailed

A couple claiming benefits whilst living a life of luxury funded by drugs have been jailed alongside his criminal siblings.

Imad Ul-Haque, 32, of Croft End Place, Ramsbottom has been jailed for 17 years and seven months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs and money laundering.

His brother, Ibad Ul-Haque, 29, of Armstrong Hurst Close, Rochdale has been jailed for 12 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

Their sister, Sabra Haque, 30, of Armstrong Hurst Close, Rochdale received 250 hours of unpaid work and Imad's partner Holly Palmer, 31, of Croft End Place, Ramsbottom received a suspended sentence for 19 months and 300 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to money laundering.

This sentence is following Operation Venetic - a nationwide crackdown led by the National Crime Agency (NCA) into the communications platform EncroChat - it is the UK's biggest ever law enforcement operation.

Following the infiltration of Encrochat - a sophisticated encrypted communications service often used by organised criminal groups - by law enforcement in Europe in 2020, data was handed to police forces across the UK for investigation.

Multiple investigations were launched across Greater Manchester and detectives from GMP's Rochdale Challenger team managed to uncover the identities of the organised criminal family in Rochdale after it soon became apparent that Imad and Ibad were using the Encrochat handles "Starkbutter" and "Paperspawner" to operate their drugs operation. Sabra and Holly were also engrained in their web of criminality.

Analysis of messages between March and May 2020 showed that Imad and Ibad had distributed approximately 50kg of cocaine and directed others in the OCG to distribute the drugs across the country. Messages sent by the two men also referenced Holly and Sabra, highlighting their involvement with both women assisting by laundering the money from the illicit activity.

In a few messages, Imad shared pictures of the inside of his house, which was up for sale online at the time of investigation, and officers were able to match items, including a bike, in the Encrochat images to the images posted on the online adverts.

Both Imad Ul-Haque and Holly Palmer were then depositing the money earned through the sale of drugs into high-value assets, all whilst Palmer was claiming Universal Credit after stating Imad was unemployed, they had no savings and she was only able to earn £500 a month.

Between April 2016 and October 2020 the duo were depositing tens of thousands of pounds into their bank and even put down a deposit of £155,995 for a £520,000 house, claiming £113,000 of the deposit was paid directly from their personal savings. Palmer was also able to purchase a BMW during this period, worth nearly £60,000.

Police Constable Lucas McGregor of GMP's Rochdale Challenger team said: "Ul-Haque and his family believed that they could commit crime with impunity. They supplied the North West with large amounts of cocaine and lived a lavish lifestyle of expensive holidays, houses and cars funded by drugs whilst the people of Rochdale struggled through the pandemic.

"Whilst committing their crimes Imad Ul-Haque and his wife, Holly Palmer, even claimed benefits meant for society's most vulnerable. Palmer then shamelessly argued that the court should show her leniency as she had previously assisted people with disabilities, the very people she has left out of pocket.

"Their greed for extravagant accessories obviously blinded them to the risks of their lifestyle. All of which has now been rightfully taken away."