FIVE people have been jailed for more than 80 years after being convicted of offences including rape, trafficking and the sexual exploitation of three teenage girls in north Wales.
Four men and a woman were sentenced at Caernarfon Crown Court last Friday (25), following a three-month trial.
The offences took place in Rhyl and elsewhere in Denbighshire between April 2022 and March 2024. The girls were aged between 14 and 16.
Mustafa Iqbal North Wales Police
Sarah GrayNorth Wales Police
Mustafa Iqbal, 43, of Trellewelyn Road, Rhyl, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, followed by five years on extended licence. He was convicted of four counts of rape, sexual assault, trafficking and compulsory labour offences, as well as drug supply offences and breaching a slavery and trafficking risk order.
Mohamed Usman Arshad, 36, of Clifton Grove, Rhyl, was jailed for 19 years for three counts of rape, trafficking and compulsory labour offences, and supplying cannabis. Ziaullah Badshah, 25, of Brighton Road, Rhyl, received 17 years for two counts of rape, trafficking and compulsory labour offences, and supplying cannabis.
Ziaullah BadshahNorth Wales Police
Jaswinder Singh, 61, of River Street, Rhyl, was sentenced to eight years for two counts of conspiracy to traffic and supplying cannabis. Sarah Gray, 53, of Llanasa Road, Gronant, was also jailed for eight years for perverting the course of justice, assisting an offender and drugrelated conspiracy offences.
The convictions followed investigations known as Operations Embank and Zirconium, which uncovered more than 40 offences involving rape, sexual assault, child sexual exploitation, modern slavery and drug supply.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Iqbal met two of the girls in Rhyl in 2022 and took them to his home, where they were given cannabis and vodka before being sexually abused.
Jaswinder SinghNorth Wales Police
A third teenager later contacted Iqbal to buy drugs. The CPS said he raped her repeatedly over three months. Gray allowed him to use her property to abuse the girl and attempted to remove DNA evidence.
Louisa Robertson of the CPS said the men used “alcohol and drugs to coerce” the girls, while Singh and Gray were “complicit in the exploitation of vulnerable girls”. Detective chief inspector Richard Sidney said the conclusion of the case was an important moment for the three girls, who continued to live with the consequences of what happened.
Mohamed Usman ArshadNorth Wales Police
“The courage shown by the victims throughout these investigations and the trial that followed has been remarkable,” he said. The North Wales Safeguarding Board is carrying out a single unified safeguarding review following the conclusion of the linked investigations. Police said it relates to the original 2022 investigation, which was discontinued at the time due to a lack of evidence.
