Wanted Leeds drug dealer who remains on the run made over £600,000 from criminal empire
Court hearing finds that wanted dealer who remains on the run made hundreds of thousands of pounds from cocaine.
A major drug dealer who remains at large was found to have made more than £600,000 from the illegal trade, a court heard.
Kasam Hussain was found guilty after a trial in his absence at Leeds Crown Court and given a 14-year jail sentence after he was found to be dealing in kilogrammes of the Class A drug.
Police are continuing to hunt for the 38-year-old who had lived in Otley.
A Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing was held this week in a bid to recoup his ill-gotten gains. Investigators calculated he had made £678,009.
But the amount available to seize came to just £77,318.
The judge, Recorder Richard Paige, ordered that amount to be paid in the next month or Hussain faces an additional two-years added to his sentence.
The court was told that it was considered Hussain’s wife may have “had a financial interest” and that letters had been delivered to her home about the POCA proceedings.
Officers had managed to locate her and were left “suspicious” because she was in the process of moving and said she was going to her mother’s address.
Further attempts to contact her had proved futile and it was suggested she may now be with Hussain, possibly in Dubai.
Hussain, formerly of Wrenbeck Drive, Otley, was given his lengthy jail sentence in September last year for playing a leading role in supplying 11 kilos of cocaine, along with money laundering offences and the production of cannabis.
He regularly transported the drugs around Britain. He was bailed while standing trial but absconded during the proceedings.
He was found guilty in his absence of conspiracy to supply of cocaine and cannabis as well as being concerned in the production of cannabis.
The sentencing followed an investigation by West Yorkshire Police’s Programme Precision team that tackles organised crime.
Officers established Hussain’s involvement from information obtained from the encrypted Encrochat network.
Hussain, also known as Adam Manan or Adam Isaac, was arrested in February 2021 and found in possession of cocaine as well as several mobile phones.
Evidence, including images, from the mobile phones indicated his involvement in multi-kilo supplies of cocaine which he regularly transported from Bradford to Scotland before distributing it wider. He also transported the drugs to Herefordshire and Isleworth in London.
Encrochat data revealed Hussain’s involvement in the purchase and couriering of 11 kilos of cocaine and the exchange of over £100,000 in cash between March 28, 2020, and May 30, 2020.
Police are continuing to appeal for information to his whereabouts.
Anyone with information can contact West Yorkshire Police by calling 101 or through the LiveChat online function quoting reference 13210085024. Or call independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.