Drug dealing brothers duo stashed money and narcotics in kitchen appliances
A duo of drug-dealing brothers have been jailed following a discovery by police of £20,000 worth of crack cocaine and heroin hidden inside an oven and cash inside a microwave in their drugs den.
The drugs and cash were uncovered after a search by West Midlands Police officers for a car owned by known-dealer Tanveer Riasat led to a set of keys to the bedsit being found alongside £1,000 stored in the glove box of the vehicle.
Drugs and cash were found stored in a variety of kitchen appliances in the bedsit alongside 100 wraps of cocaine stored under a sofa when officers used the keys to enter the property.
32-year-old Tanveer maintained his innocence, claiming that both the drugs haul and keys belonged to a man who had borrowed his car. However, a duplicate set of keys were uncovered by investigating officers in a vehicle belonging to the dealer’s younger brother Naseeb Riasat.
Tanveer Riasat of Small Heath in Birmingham was arrested on suspicion of money laundering of which he was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court. A unanimous jury also found Tanveer guilty of possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply and was sentenced to eight years in jail.
29-year-old Naseeb was given a prison sentence of five years and four months after admitting to the same offences as his brother.
PC Mark Bates, from East Birmingham Police’s Organised Crime Team, said, “Tanveer has previous convictions for drug dealing and when officers found £1,000 in cash hidden in his car they suspected it could be linked to drugs.
“Their suspicions were proved right when the keys opened up a drugs hideout with bags of cocaine and heroin plus around 100 wraps prepared for street dealing.
“He pointed police to an address in Anderton Park Road, Moseley, and a man he suggested owned the flat keys – but his plan backfired when police found his brother Naseeb at the house and another set of keys to the drugs flat.
“Naseeb admitted his involvement but Tanveer maintained his innocence – even though we found his fingerprints in the bedsit.”
