Sussex drug dealer ordered to pay back £500k in criminal assets

The 27-year-old used a patisserie as a front for money laundering

Author: Ryan BurrowsPublished 6th May 2021

An Eastbourne-based drug dealer is to repay more than half a million pounds made through his illegal activities.

27-year-old Agim Toska, of Milton Road, had operated a patisserie called 'The Pastry Shop' in Seaside Road in the town, presenting himself as a legitimate local business owner.

But local detectives were investigating him and several associates, and he was arrested in July 2018.

He was later convicted of being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs of cocaine and cannabis, and money laundering and was jailed for nine years and seven months at Lewes Crown Court April 9th, 2019.

Expert financial investigators from Sussex Police took up the trail and on Tuesday (May 4th), at the same Court, a Confiscation Order under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) was granted against him in the amount of £511,668.30.

The amount included £203934.34 in cash which police seized at the time of his arrest in 2018.

Toska will have to sell property and a vehicle to pay the Order within three months or will face a further seven years imprisonment and will still have to pay.

Detective Inspector Mark O'Brien, of Sussex Police's Economic Crime Unit, said:

"These Orders result from the hard work of our expert financial investigators, building on the success of the investigating detectives.

"We aim to target not just the criminals but also their profits, whether they are from drug dealing or any other form of criminal activity. It can take time and each investigation results in an application for a court-authorised Confiscation Order."

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