Moment armed police chainsaw their way through cocky gang leader's front door after he flooded the streets with £2m of drugs in just three months
Armed police ripped through the front door of a gang leader's house after he flooded the streets with £2million worth of drugs in just three months.
Officers arrested Asrar Rafiq, 35, after they cracked the secretive EncroChat messaging service used by organised criminals.
He used the encrypted systems to boast about his wealth, under the name 'Wisehorse', to discuss drug deals and offer weapons including including AK47S and Uzis, to other criminals.
Rafiq continued to sell drugs and weapons despite being one of 12 gang members given an injunction in 2014 after being described as a leading member of the Bordesley Green gang in Birmingham.
A court heard he had supplied 28kg of heroin and cocaine, worth around £2million, over three months.
He was finally caught when he was arrested at his home in Aston, Birmingham, in June 2020.
Incredible footage shows the moment police officers raided the house using a chainsaw to smash through his front door in the early morning raid.
Bodycam shows the moment a stunned Rafiq emerged half-naked and bleary-eyed from the bedroom as officers swarmed the property.
Bodycam shows the moment a stunned Rafiq emerged half-naked and bleary-eyed from the bedroom
When he was arrested Rafiq claimed he was maliciously targeted by police until he was confronted by the damning EncroChat messages.
He admitted encouraging or assisting with the sourcing, advertising and sale of prohibited weapons and ammunition.
He also pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin.
Rafiq, of no fixed address, was jailed for 18-and-a-half years at Birmingham Crown Court last week.
Officers discovered he used EncroChat to share a list of weapons including AK47s and Uzis, which he told associates he would be able to secure for them.
The Regional Organised Crime Unit for the West Midlands (ROCUWM) discovered he used 13 different phone numbers in a bid to evade detection.
CCTV caught him using his phone while working out at a local gym.
But he was caught after police cracked the bespoke encrypted global communication service EncroChat, which was used exclusively by criminals.
Marketed as the 'world's most secure handset', the device was popular among hitmen, drug lords and other major criminals.
There were 60,000 users worldwide and around 10,000 users in the UK.
Police discovered Rafiq, using the nickname 'Wisehorse', had conversations with other gangsters about supplying drugs.
Detective Chief Inspector Peter Cooke, from ROCUWM, said: 'Rafiq tried to claim the messages were just bravado and that he was trying to big himself up to other drug dealers.
'The claim was described as 'fanciful'.
'He was clearly a significant player in the criminal underworld of firearms and drug dealing, which causes so much misery on the streets of the West Midlands and beyond.'
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