A jailed heroin smuggler tried to secure a reduced prison sentence by setting up a firearms supply and planning to inform the National Crime Agency about it.

An NCA investigation established that Ameran Zeb Khan, 47, conspired with members of the Birmingham-based gang he controlled, who acquired a self-loading handgun and ammunition.

Khan shared a prison cell with his nephew and lieutenant, Sarweeth Rehman, 29, and they communicated with three men on the outside; brothers Khaibar Rahman, 28, of Acocks Green, Akbar Rahman, 43, of Sparks Hill, and Ahmed Hussain, 29, of South Yardley.

Khan hoped to buy up to 20 firearms and used an illicit mobile phone acquired by Rehman within prison to look up terms such ‘38 special handgun’, ‘Mac 9 2018 gun’, ‘UK police airport gun’ and ‘AK74’.

The pair devised code words such as ‘cars’, ‘car parts’, ‘makeup’ and ‘pineapples’ to represent various firearms, other weapons and ammunition as part of communication with other gang members.

They also used the phone to research the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005, which offered the prospect of a reduced prison sentence in exchange for intelligence on matters of interest to law enforcement.

Official prison landline phones were used to communicate with Khan’s wife, Gulshan Ara, 45, of Bordesley Green, between July and September 2018. This was to instruct the Rahman brothers on how to buy the weapons.

Ara also communicated with Rehman when he obtained another illicit phone after moving to a different prison.

In September 2018 NCA officers seized the converted blank-firing handgun and 16 rounds of 8mm ammunition from a car which was stopped in Whitmore Road, Small Heath.

The driver, 28-year-old Iqrar Zamir, from Alum Rock, was arrested for possession of firearms and ammunition and subsequently convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment in early 2019.

Analysis of his mobile phone showed that he had communicated with Hussain and Akbar Rahman before being arrested.

The NCA, working with West Midlands Police, arrested all those on the outside in September 2021.

Khan led a group of drugs smugglers jailed for a total of almost 140 years in July 2017 after attempting to import £10m of heroin from Pakistan to the UK via London Gateway Port in 2014.

He was jailed for 22 years, and hoped intelligence he offered on the firearms and ammunition would persuade authorities to reduce the sentence by around 10 years under terms of the SOCPA.

He and Rehman intended to pass on details of the firearms supply to NCA officers.

Khan, Sarweeth Rehman and the Rahman brothers pleaded not guilty to firearms and ammunition offences during previous hearings at Birmingham Crown Court.

They changed their pleas to guilty in October 2024, just before they were due to stand trial at the same court. Gulshan Ara also admitted a charge of participating in criminal activities with an organised crime group.

Ahmed Hussain was due to stand trial on 30 June last year but changed his plea to guilty.

At the same court today (6 January) Khan and Rehman were both sentenced to an extra six years in jail, while the Rahman brothers were both sentenced to six years and eight months imprisonment, and Hussain to five years’ imprisonment. Ara was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.

Paul Boniface, NCA Operations Manager, said: “Ameran Khan tried to concoct a plan to win an early ticket to freedom.

“It was a cynical plot designed to trick the authorities into thinking he was offering valuable intelligence about the purchase and transfer of highly dangerous weapons.

“These would have had terrifying consequences for the public, as illegal firearms only serve to intimidate, incite violence and damage communities.

“This case also demonstrates that the trades in class A drugs and firearms are often intrinsically linked.

“Preventing access to illegal firearms remains a priority for the NCA and its partners, as well as the prosecution of those responsible for and involved in their supply and control at all levels.”