Leader of multi-million pound West Midlands drugs ring to pay back less than half of ill-gotten gains
The kingpin of a multi-million pound cocaine racket which stretched across the West Midlands has been ordered to pay less than half of the cash back.
Khalad Uddin gathered more than £2m from his illegal activity, which saw him act as a link between Albanian gangsters in London and drug dealers in Kingswinford.
The crook, who was last year jailed for 16 years, has now been ordered to pay back some of his ill-gotten gains or face further time behind bars.
At a confiscation hearing, Judge Murray Creed declared Uddin had profited £2,016,351 from his offending.
But the 36-year-old had just £541,334.52 available to hand back to the authorities.
Uddin's property will be sold to gather some of the cash, while drugs and paraphernalia linked to him will be destroyed, Birmingham Crown Court heard on Friday.
If he fails to shell out the cash within the next three months, the criminal could face an extra five years in jail.
The sophisticated drugs ring saw dealers flood the region's streets with the class A drug for more than six months before it was smashed by undercover police.
The 14 criminals were last year jailed for a total of more than 100 years.
The criminal network included a five-strong gang based in Kingswinford, with much of the illegal activity taking place within a half mile radius of Stallings Lane, Kingswinford - near the homes of most of the gang.
They would trade large hauls of cocaine across county borders, profiting from drug sales in the West Midlands, Thames Valley and the South West.
Police seized 10 kilos of cocaine and recovered around £560,000 in cash after discovering the dealers would use cars with concealed compartments to transport their cocaine stash.
Uddin, who was dubbed the 'spider at the centre of the web', co-ordinated the mobs in the Black Country, Oxford, the West Country, and the capital.
The defendant, formerly of Little Brewery Street, Oxford, admitted money laundering and two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine.
His 16-year jail term is running concurrently with a 14-year sentence handed to him last year for his involvement in a conspiracy to transfer firearms and ammunition.
Speaking at the time, Detective Chief Inspector Bruce Riddell said: “Uddin was one of the key players.
"He was living a lavish lifestyle, spending over £62,000 on renting fast cars, and expensive properties.
"When officers inspected Uddin’s properties they recovered significant amounts of cash, anti-surveillance equipment, high value jewellery, 70 pairs of designer jeans and a 10 tonne hydraulic press used in the production of drugs.
"Uddin also arranged the purchase of two handguns."
