Daily Mail
November 1, 2014
A gang of drug dealers who posed for pictures with wads of cash and a large bag stuffed with cannabis have been jailed for a total of four and a half years today.
More than 100 detectives seized large quantities of cash and drugs in a series of dawn raids on 18 North Kensington homes in May, following a bloody turf war.
Mobile phones were also found containing images of the shameless gang members posing with drugs and banknotes.
Scotland Yard detectives uncovered the ring while investigating a spate of violent attacks which had erupted in the area at the end of last year.
Officers realised the violence stemmed from a drugs war over gang territory and launched an undercover operation code-named Operation Capulet.
During the raids police found phones containing incriminating images. In one shot Zakaria Chentouf, 24, is seen perched on a bed showing off a wad several inches thick of £50 notes.
Another image shows Sophian Chhayra, also 24, grinning while holding a transparent plastic bag stuffed with cannabis to his chest.
A final picture of Chhayra shows the him clutching a large amount of £50 notes with both hands in front of his face.
All five defendants pleaded guilty to drugs offences at Isleworth Crown Court in September and were today sentenced to a total of four-and-a-half years in prison for their parts in the organised ring which dealt cannabis on the streets of Ladbroke Grove in West London.
The court heard Fouad Soussi, aged 20, who was born profoundly deaf, was the ‘principal street dealer’ in the operation – exchanging drugs for cash in plain sight from his balcony and nearby streets, Isleworth Crown Court heard.
Defending him Alison Morgan told the judge he had become desperate to make his own money after struggling to find work because of his disability.
He was supplied the drugs by Chentouf, 24, who was described in court as the ‘head of the conspiracy’.
Ahmed Mahomud, 20, and Chhayra, acted as middlemen and runners, Tyrone Silcott, prosecuting, told the court.
All four pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs last month.