VIDEO: Blackburn Police release dramatic footage of drug sting after two men are sentenced to over 12 years in prison

Saqib Khan, 33, of Audley Range, and Nabeel Chopdat, 30, of Chester Close, were sentenced last month at Preston Crown Court on Wednesday, May 12.

Khan was sentenced to seven years and one month after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.

Chopdat was found guilty of the same offence after a trial and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Police first began investigating the two men in August 2017 after they were involved in a suspected drug deal.

Officers stopped them in their car - but Khan was seen swallowing what police believe were wraps of drugs.

Although both men had cash and several phones on them, no drugs were found.

And now officers have released dramatic footage of the moment the pair were stopped in August.

After an officer smashes the driver-side window with a baton, he jumps over the bonnet of the car.

Khan, in the passenger seat, can be clearly seen swallowing something - which police believe to be wraps of drugs - before gulping down water from a bottle.

In November 2017, both men were stopped again in a different car, and Khan was again seen swallowing what were believed to be wraps of drugs.

After an extensive investigation involving analytical work, Khan and Chopdat were both summonsed to court at the end of 2018.

Sgt Haydn Sibley, of Lancashire Police, said: “I hope the sentences given to Khan and Chopdat act as a deterrent to others who are involved in similar activity in Blackburn."

“Drugs bring misery to our communities and we will pursue anyone we believe is involved in this type of crime."

“I also hope this brings some comfort to the residents in the Audley Range area of Blackburn, who have had their lives affected by these two.”