Jailed cannabis cafe boss boasts of selling drugs behind bars
A CANNABIS cafe owner jailed after being exposed by The Mail on Sunday is now suspected of selling marijuana from behind bars.
Khabeer Khan, 31, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in February after this newspaper revealed he was running an Amsterdamstyle operation in London.
However an Instagram account for his Rich Nerdz cafe, which is controlled by Khan, features videos which appear to show cannabis being crumbled into packets of tobacco in prison.
It is accompanied by the caption: ‘If only you knew the value of each pack during chrono [coronavirus] season in HMP ask your people’s who’s locked up. Always trapping [selling drugs]’.
The Rich Nerdz Instagram account, previously used by drug users to arrange visits to the East London cafe, has continued to post messages promising a comeback.
It has amassed 8,000 followers after the original account, which had more than 12,000, was removed by Instagram.
One recent message reads: ‘When we reopen we coming back like never before, already we ain’t comparable to anyone worldwide… Due to unforeseen circumstances we do not reopen till the end of this year.’
Another claimed that Rich Nerdz cafes were planned in West London, Manchester and Barcelona.
Khan, from East Ham, East London, was jailed for supplying cannabis and allowing his cafe – which he had even registered at Companies House – to be used to sell the drug.
His accomplice Rocio Atienza, 26, from Poplar, East London, was also convicted for supplying cannabis and cocaine and handed a 12-month suspended sentence at Snaresbrook Crown Court. The MoS last year revealed a surge in the number speakeasy-style cafes selling superstrength cannabis. At Rich Nerdz, a reporter bought cannabis, and Khan was seen behind the counter next to what appeared to be large sacks of the drug.
After we handed our dossier of evidence to Scotland Yard, officers raided the cafe and recovered a ‘couple of kilos’ of cannabis.
Last night the Prison Service said it was ‘looking into the claims’ against Khan but that it remained unclear who had filmed the video.
The Home Office estimates 2.6 million adults use cannabis each year.