Woman flew to UK for contract killing disguised in hijab

UK police are hunting an American woman who flew to Birmingham to carry out a contract killing disguised in a hijab.

Aimee Betro, 44, was hired to kill Sikander Ali, a clothes boutique owner, on the orders of business rival Mohammed Aslam, 56, and his son Mohammed Nazir, 30, a court heard.

Betro disguised herself in a hijab before trying to gun Ali down outside a house in Acocks Green, Birmingham on Sept 7, 2019.

The would-be hit woman fled when her gun jammed, but later returned in a taxi and fired three shots at the property before texting Mr Ali’s father Aslat Mahamud: “Stop playing hide and seek” and “Where are you hiding?”

Betro flew back to the United States two days after the failed killing.

Nazir and Aslam were found guilty of conspiracy to murder on Monday after Birmingham Crown Court heard they had held a grudge against Mr Ali’s family following a violent dispute at his boutique clothing store in Birmingham on July 21, 2018.

Efforts to find Betro ‘continue’

West Midlands Police said on Wednesday their efforts to find Betro “continue”.

The violent incident had left Nazir and Aslam injured, with the windows of their shop left smashed and the interior “trashed”.

In order to get revenge in September 2019, the pair flew Betro over from the States to Birmingham in a bid to kill Mr Ali and his family.

On Sept 6, Nazir and Aslam travelled from their home in Derby to Birmingham city centre, with Nazir spending more than two hours in Birmingham’s Rotunda hotel with Betro.

Birmingham Crown Court heard how Betro – disguised in a hijab – arrived at the Acocks Green property in a Mercedes shortly before he pulled up in an Audi.

Kevin Hegarty KC, prosecuting said: “As he did the would-be assassin came from the driver’s side of the Mercedes.

‘She pulled trigger to fire at him’

“As she left the Mercedes she left the driver’s door open. She walked quite calmly towards Sikander Ali and was pointing a gun at him at head height.

“As she got closer to Sikander Ali he saw her and he saw the gun and she pulled the trigger to fire the gun at him. Mercifully and luckily for him the gun jammed.”

Mr Hegarty said Mr Ali rapidly reversed his car and drove off at speed, while Betro abandoned her Mercedes nearby.

Jurors heard Betro had bought the Mercedes from a dealer in Birmingham after flying from Chicago to Manchester, via Atlanta, on Aug 22 – 16 days before the shooting

The next morning, she took a taxi to the house in Measham Grove and fired three shots at it before ordering the driver to take her to a McDonald’s in Bordesley Green. No one was hit.

Betro later sent Aslat Mahamud a text saying: “You want to rip me off, you want to be a drug kingpin go look at your house. I will show you. Watch your back. I will be shedding blood soon.”

Guilty of conspiracy to murder

Mr Mahamud replied: “What are you talking about? I’m a family man. I have never sold drugs in my life.” Betro fled back to the US two days later.

West Midlands Police, with the assistance of Derbyshire Police, were able to piece together Aslam and Nazir’s involvement in the attempted assassination through their phones, CCTV and financial investigations.

Nazir was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence on Wednesday, June 5.

He was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice and illegally importing firearms over a plot to bring guns into the country, and then blame it on another person to frame them.

According to a tip-off to police the guns had been sent by Betro from Illinois. Aslam was found guilty of conspiracy to murder. He was cleared of a firearms offence. The pair will be sentenced on Aug 9.

‘Aslam and Nazir wanted revenge’

Det Insp Matt Marston, from West Midlands Police, said: “Aslam and Nazir were determined to take revenge following a fallout where they were injured.

“The lengths they went to in trying to make sure they weren’t implicated in pulling the trigger are immense.”

A police spokesman added: “That nobody died as a result of Aslam and Nazir’s actions is through nothing other than sheer good fortune.

“As a police service, we will do everything we can to target those who aim to bring these weapons into our communities, and bring them to justice.”