Dealer ordered to repay £18,000

A DRUG dealer who spearheaded a gang peddling heroin and crack cocaine has been ordered to pay back just £18,000 after making almost half a million pounds.

He oversaw a a conspiracy which saw thousands of pounds’ worth of Class A drugs brought into Wales.

Farah Hashi, 30, of Newport, led the group which sold an estimated 10kg of heroin and 1.5kg of crack cocaine between October 2020 and February 2021.

This was believed to add up to more than £350,000 in monetary value, with the line selling an average of 0.25kg of heroin worth between £5,000 and £6,000 per day.

Police first became involved on December 2 last year when a search warrant was executed at the home of Hashi’s “right-hand man” Amjid Rafiq.

On February 4 a number of raids were carried out at addresses connected with the drugs conspiracy.

A multi-occupancy property in Commercial Street was also searched and a padlocked cupboard was found.

It was said to contain “all the trappings of a sophisticated and successful drugs line”.

A significant amount of heroin and crack cocaine was seized from the cupboard as well as paraphernalia including adulterants such as caffeine, mobile phones, weighing scales, ammonia used to produce crack cocaine, several press plates, and a strong-arm press machine.

The total amount of drugs recovered from the properties included 1.75kg of heroin, worth up to £173,000, and 82g of crack cocaine, worth up to £7,500.

Hashi, Rafiq, 47, Ryan Davies, 30, and Kaisha Griffiths, 30, later pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Hashi was sentenced to 14 years and four months’ imprisonment while Rafiq was jailed for eight years.

Davies was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.

Griffiths was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

In a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday, Hashi was said to have benefited to the tune of £499,060 as a result of drug dealing, but only had assets worth £18,557.

Judge Hywel James ordered the defendant to pay that sum within three months or serve an additional nine months’ imprisonment.