Born in Jinja, Uganda[3] to Muslim Punjabi parents hailing from modern-day Pakistan in 1958,[4] Ghaffur and his family emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1972 after President Idi Amin forcibly expelled most of the country's minority South Asian population.

[8] In June 2008 he accused his own force of racism, claiming that, inter alia, he was not properly consulted over the proposed law involving 42-day detentions for terror suspects.

[10] In 2005 Tarique Ghaffur and Sir Ian Blair were involved in Operation Finnean, the investigation into supermodel Kate Moss's alleged possession and distribution of a Class A drug.

It has been alleged that the operation was systematically sabotaged by officers eager to undermine Ghaffur and Blair's high-profile stance on celebrity drug taking, and thereby erode their authority.

[13] On 25 November 2008, the Metropolitan Police Authority confirmed that Tarique Ghaffur had agreed an out-of-court settlement for £300,000 in his racial discrimination claim against Scotland Yard.