Drug-dealing gang that spent earnings on luxury homes and supercars jailed

Six members of a major dial-a-drug gang are now all behind bars.

Saad Qayyum had used his shisha bar in Glasgow southside as a base for flooding the city with narcotics.

The 36-year-old forged links with underworld figure Ryan Carvil – a drug dealer who flitted between Scotland and his £34,000-a-year home in Dubai.

The illegal trade was so awash with dirty cash that Qayyum drove a fleet of expensive cars, including a £314,000 McLaren 765T.

Carvil, 32, also bought himself a £160,000 Audi R6 in the United Arab Emirates for his birthday.

The pair were jailed earlier this year, having admitted being convicted of serious organised criminality and supplying illicit drugs across Glasgow.

Three associates – Qayyum’s trusted lieutenant Ajaydeep Singh, 30, Adeal Iqbal, 35 and Muhammad Hanif, 32 – were also jailed at previous hearings.

Azad Hussain, 36, became the latest member to be jailed at the High Court in Glasgow this week.

It means the gang were handed total prison sentences of almost 45 years after being caught during the large-scale Operation Arachnoid police probe.

Prosecutor Chris McKenna said Qayyum posed as a “bona fide businessman”.

He was the director of the Quay Lounge shisha bar in the city’s Paisley Road, where “legitimate and criminal enterprise overlapped”

The kingpin also had a food company called SQZ Trading Limited.

The court heard both firms were used to launder ill-gotten gains.

Mr McKenna then explained: “Qayyum utilised a drugs distribution model comparable to a large-scale business similar to many of the online food delivery services available.

“He had a huge customer base consisting of thousands, who were supplied with controlled drugs by an extensive network of drivers assisted by administrators and safe house holders.

“The group regularly sourced cocaine and MDMA (ecstasy) from Carvil, who had links to Dubai.”

Mr McKenna said Carvil headed a separate drugs gang. He divided his time between Glasgow and his luxury home in Dubai.

A trusted associate of Qayyum was Ajaydeep Singh.

The 30-year-old was the middleman between the crime mobs and was also in charge of directing the team of couriers to ferry drugs for his boss.

Mr McKenna said: “Qayyum operated a very hands-off approach to the ordering of drugs and the payment of these.

“While he maintained ultimate oversight and say over this, he acted principally through Singh – his second in command.

“The purchase of drugs from Carvil was arranged by Singh on the instructions of Qayyum.”

The court heard Qayyum, of the city’s Strathbungo, had more than £1m in different bank accounts at one stage.

The criminal operation was raking in at least around £100,000 a month at times.

Mr McKenna said this allowed Qayyum access to eight high-end cars between 2019 and his arrest in 2023.

As well as the blue 205mph McLaren 765T, there was a £96,000 BMW M5 VRM and a £51,000 Volkswagen Golf VRM.

The court heard Qayyum drove the latter car at the famous Nürburgring race track in Germany – and ended up crashing the vehicle

He also shared videos of himself behind the wheel of a turbo McLaren 720s supercar.

As well as the connection to Qayyum, Carvil used his links with criminals in Dubai to import drugs into the UK.

Both gangs also kept a number of “safehouses” to help peddle their wares.

Mr McKenna added: “Messages recovered demonstrated that Carvil lived a lifestyle outwith his legitimate means and that he laundered money earned by him through the drugs supply operation.”

Carvil, of the city’s Govan, was said at one stage to be living off £409 of Universal Credit.

But, the advocate depute stated a string of texts revealed chat about the “transfer of large sums of money” to the crime boss, who often referred to his “staff” in the messages.

In August 2023, he even complained about the cost of living in Dubai – moaning his rent had shot up to £34,000 a year.

It did not stop him from treating himself to the Audi R6 at a dealership there.

Mr McKenna said: “He stated that the car was for his birthday.”

But the crime bosses were on their way to be caught when middleman Singh was stopped in his Ford Ranger pickup by police in the city’s Tradeston.

He was handcuffed after officers could smell cannabis from the vehicle.

They then seized £4,000 in cash, digital scales, small bags of ketamine, white rocks of cocaine, another substance used to bulk out drugs for profit, as well as three phones.

One of the mobiles revealed a WhatsApp account called “Sam’s Party Shop”.

Mr McKenna said: “A download of the data provided extensive evidence that a large drug dealing network was currently in operation involving organised crime.

“It prompted the Operation Arachnoid investigation.

“Over five million messages were recovered and analysed.”

The “Billy’s Multivitamins” account operated by Qayuum’s mob was also found, as well as another named “ZZZ”.

Police found contact with almost 4,000 “customers” looking for cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine.

All six admitted to organised crime charges.

Detective inspector Tom Carey, who led the investigation, said: “We are committed to targeting and disrupting the activities of organised crime groups and will continue to use any tactic and investigative technique available to us to identify and arrest those involved.

“Operation Arachnoid was an involved and complex investigation. I want to pay tribute to the officers who spent many months carrying out enquiries to establish the extent of the group’s criminality and bring them to justice.”

Detective inspector Carey added: “Illegal drugs are not welcome in our communities and stemming this wicked trade remains a priority for us. The six men will now face the consequences of their illegal actions in prison.”