Droylsden drug dealer jailed

A drug dealer with a £2m property portfolio has been jailed.

William Black, aged 50 of Waverley Crescent, Droylsden was found guilty of four counts of fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, one count of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, one count of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs, one count of money laundering for drugs, fraud and criminal property, and one count of money laundering for tax evasion.

He was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square to 15 years in prison.

Following a number of high profile murders in Tameside and north Manchester in 2012, Greater Manchester Police began an intense and wide-ranging investigation into the associates of all the criminals involved in these cases.

One of the units that carried out this in-depth investigation was the Economic Crime Unit, who began to look into the financial affairs of William Black and his associates.

Over a period of two years, an investigation into the finances of the organised crime group identified that Black was a prominent member of this group and had built himself a large property portfolio, which amounted to at least 28 properties, plots of land and a building development at Stretford Marina. In total the properties were valued in excess of £2million.

In order to amass this portfolio, Black had provided false details on mortgage applications, including wages and employment details, registered the properties in other people’s names and had obtained the deposits from other members of the group.

Black lived in an average sized semi-detached house on the end of a street in Droylsden, but he had extended this significantly to around three times its original size, with opulent furnishings and parquet flooring throughout.

In 2013, the activities of the organised crime group, of which Black was a key member, were targeted by officers from GMP’s Serious and Organised Crime Group. The operation culminated in a series of warrants across the Manchester area, which resulted in the recovery of a large amount of cocaine and cannabis with a street value of just under £100,000 and around £40,000 in cash. Officers also recovered nine Rolex watches from Black’s house, worth a total of £120,000.

On 14 April 2014, the eight other men in this organised crime group were sentenced to a total of more than 40 years in prison at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square. And in October 2014, members of the gang were ordered to pay back more than £70,000 made through their illicit operation following a confiscation hearing at Manchester Crown Court.

Chief Inspector Daniel Inglis from GMP's Serious Crime Division said: “The in-depth investigation into Black’s finances uncovered a complex web of false financial details being provided and houses fraudulently put into different names to build up a vast portfolio of houses across Greater Manchester, which were rented out for profit.

“William Black masqueraded as a property developer, but this lifestyle was funded by his drugs criminal enterprise, of which he was the head.

"It must be galling for genuine, hard-working members of our communities to see drug dealers such as Black enjoying wealth that they haven't earned, and so I hope today’s result sends out a significant message to anyone involved in supplying drugs and related criminality. No matter how sophisticated you think you are, justice will always catch up with you in the end.

“Our aim, together with partners and with help from the community, is to continually disrupt, dismantle and destroy organised crime groups that bring misery to the streets of Manchester and we will do that by any means possible.

“Criminal families and networks operating in Greater Manchester are not untouchable, but we need the public’s continued help to expose these people.

“Both we and partner agencies will continue to target these networks and break them down, member by member.”

Anyone with information on organised crime is asked to contact police at 101, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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