Drug gang jailed after being uncovered when 17-year-old was involved in e-bike collision

Five men who ran or assisted in running the ‘Max’ drug line, based in Bradford, bringing drugs across into East Lancashire, have been jailed.

Police first became aware of the Max drug line when they received a report of a minor injury collision between a vehicle and an e-bike.

When the rider, a then 17-year-old boy’s bag was searched, officers located 55 wraps of what appeared to be Class A drugs, a quantity of cash and two mobile phones, one of which was a burner-style phone which was consistently ringing whilst in the police’s possession.

Police began an investigation and discovered that the Max lines would largely operate by sending out a large quantity of batch messages – the same message to hundreds of numbers advertising their stock.

The ‘Max’ line had two leaders: brothers Danyal and Mohammed Rafiq.  There were also middle-managers including Mohammed Zafran who were trusted to hold the phones and task street dealers with work.

The Rafiq brothers kept themselves removed from the day-to-day operations of the drug line, instead tasking others with the work that could lead to them being caught.

They ensured the cars they used were taxed, has MOT and insurance, to create the illusion that the people using them were just going about their day-to-day business, rather than selling drugs across counties to vulnerable people.

On one occasion, that Zafran told another associate to pass on to Danyal Rafiq that the street dealers could ‘graft’ on foot that day if the insurance wasn’t sorted.

The brothers and middle managers recruited teenagers one as young as fourteen years old to do their street running for them.

Officers attended an address on Devon Crescent on two separate occasions, where each time they found a different teenager there. Both teenagers gave excuses for how they knew the homeowner, yet one couldn’t tell our officers their name.

In May 2025, officers conducted a ‘strike’ day, carrying out simultaneous warrants at addresses. Danyal Rafiq and Mohammed Zafran, along with other members of the OCG were arrested that day.

Following the arrests, and the analysis of devices, we discovered there were at least five different phone numbers that functioned as the ‘Max’ line, and were all connected with one another.

Police also found messages from both Richard Berresford and Daniel Morgan selling drugs, and on some of the devices, images evidencing drug dealing.

Danyal Rafiq, 29, of Wheatley Grove, Bradford, was charged with conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine and was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison.

Mohammed Rafiq, 26, of Wheatley Grove, Bradford, was charged with conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine. He was found guilty of conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Mohammed Zafran, 32, of Quebec Road, Blackburn, was charged with conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine and was sentenced to six years and six months in prison.

Richard Beresford, 44, of Sandfield Road, Bacup, was charged with conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Daniel Morgan, 45, of Queen Street, Bacup, was charged with conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine and was sentenced to three years in prison.

DS Stu Peall, of East CID said: “The Rafiq brothers worked together to run the ‘Max’ line. They controlled the operations and those working for them, including their right-hand-man Mohammed Zafran.

“Those involved in the ‘Max’ line targeted vulnerable people, using teenagers to deal the drugs to vulnerable people across two counties. They did all of this with the intention of making money for themselves.  

“This criminality will not be tolerated in Lancashire. We will continue to tackle organised crime and crime involving drugs to help keep our streets safe.

“If you have concerns that someone you know may be involved in organised criminality, please do the responsible thing and report it to us.”