Dealer who stashed cash and heroin in walls of Wolverhampton home told to pay back £740k
A drug dealer who stashed £2.5 million-worth of drugs in the walls of his home has been ordered to pay back his ill-gotten gains.
Daljinder Bassi was locked up for 13 years after secretly planting the heroin and cocaine in wall cavities at his Wolverhampton home.
He profited more than £1.1m from his criminal activity but has now been told he must hand over just £742,270, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
The 36-year-old crook was caught following an investigation by the National Crime Agency and Metropolitan Police Organised Crime Partnership (OCP).
WATCH: Footage shows seized drugs and cash
Matt McMillan from the OCP said: “Bassi made huge sums of money by selling dangerous class A drugs; a business that directly fuels serious violence and gang culture.
“In most cases, the OCP’s work does not stop at a criminal conviction.
"Wherever possible, we will look to strip offenders of their illicit earnings and make sure they aren’t able to fund a luxury lifestyle once they’ve served their time.
“If Bassi satisfies the confiscation order, he’ll be released from his sentence when he expects to be.
"If not, he’ll serve over five more years and still be expected to pay this bill at the end."
GALLERY: See what was hidden inside the walls
Judge Dean Kershaw declared Bassi would be sentenced to a further five years and five months in prison if the cash was not paid back within three months.
Bassi used his home in Stafford Road, Oxley, to cut, package and store huge quantities of Class A drugs before selling then on to dealers across the West Midlands.
The drugs wholesaler stashed his illicit earnings and the drugs in powder, rock and block under the floorboards, beneath the insulation in the loft and within the wall cavities.
Cash hidden in the walls was only accessible from the loft using a home-made pulley system.
Bassi was stopped by police while on the M6, near junction 7 for Great Barr on October 27 last year after acting suspiciously.
Police uncovered three kilos of heroin in three compressed blocks in the footwell of his Volkswagen Golf.
Officers also found the cash as well as 22kg of heroin, cocaine and mixing agents such as caffeine and paracetamol in his home.
A hydraulic press, which investigators believe Bassi used to pack the drugs into blocks, and two ledgers comprised of customer details and their orders were also seized.
He was jailed in February after admitting money laundering and four counts of possession with intent to supply heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine.
