A £17m web of 59 properties including a gym was bought with “dirty money” by a drugs trafficking gang has been seized and sold by drug dealers in Birmingham.
A group of heroin dealers from the east of the city had a property portfolio including industrial premises, terraced houses and a commercial unit which had been turned into a gym. The majority of the properties uncovered were lets, with 34 of them in Selly Oak.
None of the addresses were purchased in the names of the criminals, but the High Court heard they were linked to the proceeds of drug importation and supply, fraud and money laundering.
The gang’s three ringleaders and five associates behind the network were jailed in 2017 after a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation, with three others also found in Bangor, Northern Ireland.
In the investigation, the NCA has said that there is no evidence any of the property owners were involved in any criminal activity. All properties seized have now been sold or are currently being sold, with the proceeds split between the NCA and the Treasury.
Andy Lewis from the NCA, said: “Had we not taken all these properties away, the main people sentenced would have come out of prison and had £17m to invest. Taking away the money stops them reinvesting in other criminality, or their retirement.”
In July 2014, the NCA’s criminal investigation into the case began after Border Force intercepted a shipping container with 165kg heroin – valued at up to £19m – stashed inside industrial equipment.
After a trial at Birmingham Crown Court, eight men, including Ameran Zeb Khan (then 38), of Cobham Road, Mohammed Ali (then 37) of Wyndcliff Road, and Sajid Hussain (then 32) of Fieldhouse Road were jailed in July 2017, and each received 22-year jail terms for their part in conspiring to import heroin.
