Muslim 'fanatic' exposed as a hypocrite as he's jailed after £2.6m drug factory raid

A Muslim who dressed as suicide bomber in protest over cartoons showing Mohammed has been jailed for 13 years for a massive drug conspiracy.

Omar Khayam, 27, was part of a gang who aimed to flood the Bedford area with £2.6million worth of heroin.

And far from being devout, his part in the conspiracy exposes him as a hypocrite as drug dealing is expressly forbidden under Islamic law.

Controversial: Omar Khayam (centre) hit the headlines when he wore a suicide bomber's vest at a 2006 demo. He has now been convicted for his part in a plan to flood Bedford with £2.6m of heroin

In February 2006, Khayam, the son of a retired Urdu teacher, shocked the nation by dressing up as a suicide bomber - just months after the 7/7 bombings in London.

He was involved in angry protests outside the Danish Embassy in London after cartoons showing Mohammed had been published in Denmark.

Luton Crown Court was told two police officers stumbled across a heroin and cannabis factory in Ashburnam Road in Bedford on December 3 last year.

They had gone to arrest a man for an unrelated offence. He was not there but they noticed powder on the floor and objects covered by large plastic bags.

Khayam has received 13 years in prison for his part in the drugs conspiracy
Prosecutor Natalie Carter said the officers returned with colleagues seven minutes later and searched the flat. Two men that were there had escaped through a window.

They recovered 26.2kg of heroin, along with 24.5kg of caffeine and 4.5kg of paracetamol to be used as 'bash' to cut the drugs. There was also a third of a kilo of crack cocaine with a street value of £17,500 and £124,795 in cash.

Other equipment including mixing bags, scoops, scales, face masks and a hydraulic press was also seized.

The street value of the heroin, once it had been cut, was £2.6million. The haul of drugs is believed to be the largest ever seized in Bedfordshire .

Mrs Carter said: 'The men had left by a window. The heroin, bash and cash had been left behind.'

CCTV from the previous night showed men arriving at the flat with mixing bowls and the press. They were seen carrying items into the flat in plastic bags.

Three men are still at large, but Khayam's co-defendant Mohammed Arfaan, also 27, was arrested after confessing his involvement to a police officer in Cambridgeshire and handing himself into Bedfordshire officers on March 17.

Khayam was arrested in a car in Milton Keynes on May 31. He was found to be in possession of 27kg of paracetamol, but was not charged with any offence in relation to this.

Both he and Arfaan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs between May 18, 2009 and June 1, 2010. One charge related to heroin and the other cocaine.

Khayam, who appeared in the dock wearing a blue Islamic hat, had previously been sentenced to eight years by a judge at Luton on March 14, 2003 for conspiracy to supply a Class A drug and possession of cocaine.

It was reduced to five and a half years on appeal due to his previous good character.

His lawyer Abbas Lakha QC said Khayam had become involved because of a drug debt he owed and was not the main organiser.

'He was beholden to others and was not at the top end.' He said the stunt outside the Danish Embassy had 'caused a considerable amount of publicity. It has affected his life for a considerable period of time.'

Arfaan's lawyer Alex Lewis said he had been drawn into the conspiracy by Khayam, who was a school friend. She said he was no more than a 'driver, helper and mechanic' in the conspiracy.

Jailing Khayam for 13 years and Arfaan for six years, Judge John Bevan QC said: 'Dealing in heroin and cocaine is an odious and pernicious trade.'

He said Khayam had dragged Arfaan, who had been a perfectly respectable man, before the court.