A CONVICTED Bradford drug dealer, who made more than £1 million from his illegal activity, has been ordered to hand over almost £137,000.

Yusuf Kara, 30, of Lidget Green, was given a confiscation order totalling £136,907.81 at Leeds Crown Court on Friday, August 14, under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Kara was warned he would serve up to a further 16 months in prison, if he failed to pay the full sum within three months, and would still be liable for the money.

He had been sentenced to 10 years and four months in prison on December 18, last year, at the same court, for conspiracy to supply class A drugs and money laundering.

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It came after an operation led by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in October of that year.

Kara was arrested on Shearbridge Road, in Bradford, on October 17, 2019. 

When officers searched his house they found 56 packages, each containing a kilo of heroin, hidden in bags and a suitcase.

The total street value of the heroin was around £3 million.

The court found that Kara had benefitted from his criminal conduct in the amount of £1,091,007.74, over the full course of his criminal activities.

His recoverable assets, including cash, cars and designer clothing, totalled £136,907.81.

The ruling will also see Kara forfeit a Ford Focus and a Peugeot 207, which he had used to transport drugs.

Kara’s Encrochat phone, which was found in his car and had been used to coordinate his drug trafficking, was also ordered to be destroyed.

As part of the same investigation, Imran Khan Ashraf, 31, of no fixed abode but formerly of Bradford, admitted money laundering and was sentenced to 28 months.

The court also found that Ashraf had benefitted from his criminal conduct in the amount of £249,550.15 and that he owned assets totalling £2,669.69.

Ashraf was made subject of a confiscation order in the sum of £2,669.69, and a number of phones found in his possession, including an Encrochat handset, have been destroyed.

NCA Branch Commander Mark Spoors said: “The class A drug trade fuels violence and intimidation in our communities, and Kara was living a lavish lifestyle profiting from this criminality.

“Today’s result shows the full extent of the NCA’s impact; an already imprisoned Class A drug trafficker and money launderer being stripped of his illicit cash and assets.

“We continue to use all of the tools at our disposal to pursue serious and organised criminals and deny them their proceeds of crime.”