POLICE today warned heroin dealers there was no hiding place after a Burnley man was convicted following a drugs and money laundering operation.

Azuzul Wahab, 32, of Clive Street, was found guilty along with Joseph Cromer, 29, of Cleethorpes at the end of a lengthy Preston Crown Court trial.

They are due to be sentenced on December 16 along with two other men who previously pleaded guilty to the same charge.

Wahab and Cromer had both denied a charge of conspiracy to supply heroin between January 1996 and August 1998. Wahab was also convicted of a money laundering charge.

A third defendant, Asad Khan, 30, of Cronkshaw Street, Burnley, was found not guilty of the same two charges by a jury. He was discharged at the end of the trial.

The court had heard claims that Wahab and Khan gained supplies of heroin and then transferred them, at considerable profit, to another man. The court was told Cromer was doing a similar thing on the other side of the Pennines.

The court heard evidence that large sums of money were made. A Post Office was bought and money spent on flashy cars like a Porsche and BMW.

All three defendants denied being involved in any drugs plot. Wahab told the court he had made admissions to police because he became concerned after members of his family were arrested by police around the same time.

He and Cromer were remanded in custody by Judge Edward Slinger until sentencing.

Detective Sergeant Steve Mounsey, of Burnley Police, said today: "Dealing in heroin is a problem but it's one we are dealing with. "This was a very successful operation and it's sent the message out that supplying this drug will not be tolerated."

Pensioners and other users of the village post office at Harle Syke were unaware the business had been bought by drug dealers to launder profits.

The lavish lifestyle of the dealers aroused suspicion and led to Operation Fiscal, a joint police and post office investigation.

The Burnley Road post office was raided and closed down and eight people were arrested in the Burnley, Nelson and Brierfield areas.

An undercover operation had been on-going for more than six months and resulted in the seizure of drugs, cash and cars valued at £240,000.

The purchase of the post office for £70,000 in cash and a £37,000 mortgage was done in an attempt to hide the profits from drug trafficking.

It was the lavish lifestyle of some of those involved including the purchase of a £32,000 BMW and a £52,000 Porsche which helped to lead to their downfall.

They came to the notice of police because they could not control their spending, the jury at Preston Crown Court was told.

Before their trial started the jury heard that two men, Anthony Dewhurst, a trader in Leeds Road, Nelson, and Roy Crossley had admitted supplying heroin.

Dewhurst was marketing heroin with Crossley as his runner who would go out on a bicycle to make deals and collections.