Three men of Indian origin have been sentenced to a total of over 22 years following a police investigation into a "sophisticated" organised crime network operating in west London that was allegedly involved in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine.
One of the accused, Purshotam Dhillon, 59, who was serving as a magistrate at the time of his arrest, was handed a seven-year custodial sentence at Croydon Crown Court in south London on Thursday.
He used his position to facilitate the illegal operation, news agency PTI reported.
The other two accused, Hardeep Thind, 48, also known as Harry Singh, and Bikramjit Brar, 46, were sentenced to a term of 12 years and six months and three years and four months, respectively.
"This was a complex and far-reaching investigation that uncovered a well-established organised crime network responsible for supplying significant quantities of Class A (banned) drugs across London," said Detective Inspector (DI) Mark Gavin, from the Met's Specialist Crime unit, according to PTI.
"The team's extensive work enabled us to identify, disrupt and dismantle a group whose actions would have been causing serious harm to communities," he added.
Dhillon allowed a van containing substantial quantities of heroin to be parked outside his house and allowed drugs to be weighed out and packaged inside.
As a serving magistrate, Dhillon abused a position of trust in the most serious way. This case demonstrates that no-one is above the law, and those who engage in criminality will be held accountable," he added.
