Two Muslim men jailed in London for hiding guns, drugs in ceiling

Malik, Mufty, sentenced to 26 years in prison collectively for hiding firearms and drugs worth over £20,000

Two Muslim men were sentenced on Saturday to 26 years imprisonment collectively, for hiding firearms and drugs worth over £20,000 in a ceiling in London, Metropolitan Police reported.

Hamza Malik, 26, of Senior Street was sentenced by Isleworth Crown Court of Saturday to 16 years in prison, while Payam Mufty, 27, of Bourne Terrace was sentenced to 10 years in prison.



Following a two-week trial in November 2015, the two were found guilty of three firearm offences (possession with intent to endanger life), supply of Class A drugs worth £21,000 and possession of ammunition.

According to reports, the convictions came about as a result of an investigation carried out by detectives in the Westminster area where they found a bag containing a sawn-off shotgun, two handguns and a large amount of ammunition, hidden in the ceiling.

Two jailed over guns and drugs found hidden in a ceiling at a flat in #Paddington https://t.co/jnxLcKgpIi pic.twitter.com/OkC63g0wgr

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 22, 2016

"These men were both involved in the drugs trade and in possession of guns, a dangerous combination. A sawn-off shotgun is a terrible weapon that will cause devastating injury or death. Such criminals have no place on the streets of London and, after a lengthy trial, the jury quickly agreed. Now both have been sentenced to a lengthy term of imprisonment. I am sure that with these men brought to justice this city is now a safer place," Detective Constable Richards, the officer in the case, said.



Bags containing Class A drugs- Alpha-Methyltryptamine (AMT) worth over £20,000 were also discovered. Further investigations linked Malik to the flat and the bags as a result of which he was arrested in June 2015.

Meanwhile, Mufty's link with the ammunition and drugs was also proved by forensic evidence; thus, leading to his arrest in June 2015.