A former Metropolitan Police officer has been jailed for helping a drug gang steal money from other gangs.

Kashif Mahmood, 32, from Harlow in Essex, seized hundreds of pounds for an organised crime gang controlled from Dubai.

The gang was told when money was on the move so Mahmood could intercept it, dressed in his uniform and using police cars.

He has been jailed for eight years, while four other men and a woman received sentences of up to 16 years.

Handing down the sentence, Judge David Tomlinson said Mahmood “abused his position of power, trust and responsibility” and his actions were an “exploitation” of his policing colleagues.

Mahmood’s sentence was reduced from 12 years due to an early guilty plea and in November he was dismissed from the Met Police following a misconduct hearing.

The court heard he was a member of a “highly lucrative” operation which seized at least £850,000 from criminal couriers under the pretence of a “lawful exercise of his powers”.

He was sentenced after admitting conspiracy to acquire criminal property and misconduct in public office, although he did not receive any additional jail time for the latter charge.

Mr Tomlinson said the group put criminal couriers in harm’s way, as they would not have been able to explain to their bosses how the money had been seized.

William Emlyn Jones, mitigating, told Southwark Crown Court on Thursday that Mahmood “accepts that this is no one’s fault but his own”.

“It is his own fault he has lost his good character and his hard-earned reputation,” he added.

He said Mahmood had achieved his “boyhood dream” of becoming a police officer at the age of 21, despite having a “challenging” childhood during which he was stabbed when he refused to join a neighbourhood gang.

Mahmood was sentenced alongside brothers Mohsin Khan, 36, Shazad Khan, 33, and Shabaz Khan, 33, Mohsin Khan’s partner Maria Shah, 34, and Ioan Gherghel, 34.

Mohsin Khan, from Ilford in east London, was sentenced to 16 years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, conspiracy to transfer criminal property and conspiracy to acquire criminal property.

Shabaz Khan, from Barkingside in east London, was jailed for 14 years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, conspiracy to transfer criminal property, conspiracy to acquire criminal property and possession of a controlled drug of Class B with intent to supply.

Shazad Khan and Shah, both from Ilford, were sentenced to 15 years and five years and four months in jail respectively for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, conspiracy to transfer criminal property and conspiracy to acquire criminal property.

Gherghel, from Stratford in east London, was jailed for six years for conspiracy to acquire criminal property.

All six were banned from travelling outside of the UK for five years after their release.

The sentences come after a covert investigation that began on 30 March, last year.

Mahmood, who is a close friend of the Khan brothers, used police cars to travel while in uniform to seize money from criminal couriers, while he was helped by Gherghel, who posed as a police officer twice.

The conspiracy was run by a man based in Dubai, who used an encrypted communications platform to communicate with Mohsin – the main point of contact.

In July 2019 and January 2020, Mahmood looked up police records to source intelligence about the Dubai contact, who appeared concerned about what police knew about him.

Mahmood used police vehicles to intercept couriers and seize or attempt to seize up to £450,000 at a time.

On one occasion Mahmood and Gherghel searched an undercover surveillance car, seizing a bag that contained a large amount of cash.

Officers stopped Mahmood to investigate why he had searched the car and were told that there were concerns of drug dealing in the area and agreed to complete an intelligence report.

On 28 April 2020, Mahmood was arrested at his home in Harlow and Gherghel in Stratford.

A search of Gherghel’s address revealed a Met stab vest and £11,385 in cash.

On 7 July 2020, officers arrested the Khan brothers and Shah.

Evidence seized included £39,525 in cash, more than 20kg of cannabis, paraphernalia for packaging drugs and a box for an encrypted mobile phone.

Over £100,000 was found at addresses linked to Shabaz Khan.

All the defendants were charged and later offered guilty pleas.

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