Kidderminster Drug Dealer Made To Pay Back More Than £5,000

A Kidderminster drug dealer has been ordered to pay back more than £5,000 found in his flat when it was raided by police.

A confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 was made against Luke Reynolds at Worcester Crown Court.

Cannabis worth £800, a small quantity of methylmethcathinone (meow) and £5,080 cash, along with drugs paraphernalia, were recovered from his flat after a search warrant was executed in March.

Unemployed Reynolds, aged 24, of Comberton Road, admitted two charges of possession with intent to supply, and was jailed for 12 months at an earlier hearing.

The confiscated money will be used in the fight again drugs and other crime.

Mark Bancroft, Accredited Financial Investigator with West Mercia Police's Economic Crime Unit, said: "Reynolds was receiving benefit which was clearly insufficient to finance his drug habit and his drug trafficking activities. We estimate he had been earning £150 a day by selling cannabis for at least six months, netting him £27,000.

"Given that he was in receipt of Jobseekers allowance during this period, it is therefore only just that he forfeits the £5,080 cash found in his flat.

"The Proceeds of Crime Act enables us to seize offenders' assets and hit them where it hurts most, in their pockets, and we hope this case sends a clear message that crime does not pay."

Issued: Thursday, 18 October 2012