CUSTOMS OFFICERS 'SET UP BOGUS DRUG DEALS'

British Customs and Excise officers in Pakistan are being investigated
following allegations that Asians in the UK were "set up" in bogus drug
deals.

An inquiry is being conducted by the Customs National Investigation Service
after a convicted drug dealer claimed that he helped to set up stings for
the Drugs Liaison Office attached to the British High Commission in
Islamabad.

Two court cases involving 55kg of heroin with a street value of #5.5m have
already collapsed because the dealer, Hussain Shah, a 45-year-old Bradford
businessman, offered to give evidence for the defence about his involvement
in setting up the "victims".

Senior Customs officials are concerned that a campaign by defence
solicitors in as many as 13 cases going back four years could result in
genuine criminals launching appeals because of Shah's claims.

They centre on Customs and Excise "controlled deliveries" of drugs into the
UK in operations where informants from Pakistan pose as couriers to lead
investigators to large-scale buyers in Britain.

Shah, 45, claims he was recruited by Customs officers in Pakistan after
fleeing there to escape charges relating to a 3kg drugs deal in Britain in
1995. His solicitor, Mohammed Rafique, says Shah, who was anxious to return
to his Bradford home, was approached by Customs officials and promised that
his case would be dropped if he agreed to help set upstings in the UK in
which deliveries were made to chosen individuals.

"Mr Shah says they told him that if he co-operated, his case would go no
further," Mr Rafique said. "He got involved in roping a few people into
deals in Britain but when he returned last year he was arrested and
sentenced to four years in prison."

Last October, Chunni Singh and Gill Singh were acquitted at Leeds Crown
Court of smuggling 20kg of heroin into Britain after Shah offered to give
evidence relating to his involvement in their case.

Earlier, three other defendants, accused of importing 35kg of heroin, had
charges against them dropped, again after prosecutors were told that Shah
was prepared to give evidence. Philip Sweeney, solicitor for one of the
three, Waheed Rehman, said: "It was a godsend. The men were looking at 15
to 20 years. But they were drawn in by the operation. They certainly
weren't big operators."

Although the defendants in each case appeared quite willing to buy large
amounts of drugs, they argue that heroin is offered so cheaply that
temptation results in entrapment.

Customs and Excise confirmed that a "thorough" inquiry was under way. It is
understood at least two men, jailed for their part in receiving a
controlled delivery in Manchester in 1994, are to be interviewed in prison
by Mike Fletcher, head of the Customs National Investigation Service, or
his deputy, Mike Newsom.

Customs sources say no impropriety has been uncovered so far. However
senior officers are known to be concerned that Shah's claims and the
orchestrated actions of determined defence solicitors could lead to appeals
by jailed drugs importers whose convictions were justified.