MEMBERS of a family caught taking heroin to Teesside from Sheffield were jailed for a total of 23 years yesterday.

Teesside Crown Court was told that the police seized £85,000 and more than a kilo of heroin worth an estimated £123,000 from one of their cars.

Martina Connolly, prosecuting, said that police tracked a Vauxhall Vectra driven by Azhar Ali to the Forth Park area of Sheffield. It pulled up next to a Corsa and police saw a package being transferred.

After Ali drove back to Teesside, a package was unloaded and put into the boot of a Nissan Micra, where it was seized by police and found to contain 1.231 kilos of heroin.

Ali's sister, Shanaz Mahmood, and her husband were later seen driving from their home and, when police stopped their car, they found £85,130 in cash in the front footwell.

It was later claimed that the money legitimately belonged to her brother and her brother-in-law, Tariq Mahmood, and she said that she had received a phone call asking her to move the money from her home.

Tariq Mahmood had a safe in his bedroom holding £10,000 and Mazhar Ali also had a bedroom safe with £5,000 inside.

Robin Denny, defending, said that Mazhar Ali had waited almost two years to learn his fate, which he realised would be a significant period in custody.

Mazhar Ali, 29, and Tariq Mahmood, 38, from Park Road, Stockton, denied conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and two charges of money laundering but both were found guilty and sent to jail for nine years.

Azhar Ali, 31, also from Park Road, Stockton, who pleaded guilty to the drugs conspiracy, was jailed for four years. Arshad Mahmood,40, from Yarm Road, Stockton, who pleaded guilty to moneylaundering was jailed for a year and his wife Shanaz Mahmood, 36, a Teesside-born mother of four, who also pleaded guilty, was given a two-year community rehabilitation order.