Wannabe Great Harwood kingpin who exploited vulnerable people into selling heroin and crack cocaine jailed

Lancashire Police launched Operation Picasso to take down the Pablo Line, which was run by defendant Amir Shah.

Officers gathered evidence which proved Shah conspired with co-defendants Pavol Kantor and Shaun Dowd to supply Class A drugs between August 2021 and February 2022.

On September 2, 2021, police stopped a man and a woman in Colne who were found to be in possession of heroin and crack cocaine.

Officers found more drugs when searching their home as well as a burner phone which showed they were being controlled by “Pablo”, aka Amir Shah.

The drugs seized were valued at £910.

On November 4, 2021, two men were pursued by officers in a stolen car from Manchester, which they abandoned in Lancashire.

While getting out of the car they were spotted discarding mobile phones and a quantity of heroin and crack cocaine.

The phones were examined and found to have “Pablo New” and “The Real Pablo” in their contacts.

Those phones were shown to have been in contact with a number attributed to Shah.

On November 18, 2021, Dowd was stopped driving a Volkswagen Passat and found to be in possession of heroin and a mobile phone.

While Dowd was being searched his phone was constantly ringing, with PK popping up on the screen.

Evidence proved PK was Pavel Kantor – a drug dealer for the Pablo Line.

Shah was arrested at a property in Colne on December 9, 2021. A mobile phone and iPad were also seized.

On February 17, 2022, a warrant was obtained for Kantor’s house in Colne. Officers found heroin, crack cocaine and a burner phone.

Enquiries revealed that three burner phones attributed to the Pablo Line had been in Shah’s possession throughout the length of the conspiracy.

Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, the three defendants were charged with conspiring to supply crack cocaine and heroin – offences they subsequently pleaded guilty to.

At Preston Crown Court on Tuesday (October 10) they were sentenced to the following:

- Amir Shah, 26, of Blackburn Road, Great Harwood – six years custody.

- Pavol Kantor, 22, Windsor Street, Colne – three years custody.

- Shaun Dowd, 38, of Harper Street, Barnoldswick – two years and six months custody.

DC Georgina Green, of the East Target Crime Team, said: “Shah exploited some of the most vulnerable members of society for his own pure greed.

“He behaved like a drug kingpin and thought he was above the law.

“The hard work and dedication of my colleagues has resulted in Shah’s drugs empire being shattered and a spell in custody for him and his co-defendants.”

Operation Picasso comes under the banner of Operation Warrior, which is Lancashire Police’s response to tackling serious and organised crime.

Mr Snowden said: “It’s important that we send a clear message to criminals that police are coming to get you, and this is another great example of the work officers do, every single day, to disrupt and dismantle organised crime gangs and put them behind bars.”