Wolverhampton heroin dealer hid £750k cash in loft insulation

Officers descended on the Wolverhampton house after arresting 36-year-old Daljinder Bassi on the M6 near the Walsall and Wednesbury turn off at junction nine.

Three kilos of heroin was in his car when it was stopped by officers from the National Crime Agency on October 27.

A further 22 kilos of cocaine and heroin were discovered in blocks concealed around his home in Stafford Road, Oxley, it was heard.

And it is understood £750,000 in cash was stashed in the walls and insulation of the loft.

Drug paraphernalia including a hydraulic press that could be used to produce blocks of drugs were also recovered from the address.

Bassi admitted two charges of possessing heroin with intent to supply and one of possessing cocaine with intent to supply. He also pleaded guilty to converting criminal property when he appeared before Wolverhampton Crown Court by video link on Monday.

Mr Ben Williams, prosecuting, said: “Several kilos of drugs were recovered from the house while £750,000 of cash was also found secreted in quite sophisticated places.”

The defendant wanted to be sentenced as soon as possible after admitting his crimes at the earliest opportunity but this was delayed at the invitation of the prosecution.

Mr Williams said investigations surrounding the case had still to be completed and the National Crime Agency needed more time to follow two specific lines of inquiry. One of these involves analysis of mobile phones used by Bassi that have been seized by officers. Judge Amjad Nawaz encouraged him to give them the relevant pin codes to speed up the process.

Police are also waiting for an expert assessment of the true value of the ‘large quantities’ of drugs recovered during the operation because the cocaine was of ‘relatively high purity,’ the court heard. The defendant, who has served a 10 year jail sentence for another offence in the past, was remanded in custody until a further court appearance next year. If police inquiries are completed he will be sentenced.

The National Crime Agency confirmed in a statement: “Daljinder Bassi, from Stafford Road, was arrested on Friday October 27 after officers stopped the car he was driving on the M6 and found three kilos of heroin. His home address was searched and cash was recovered, with a further 22 kilos of class A drugs and drug paraphernalia including a hydraulic press.”