Walsall drug dens pair must pay back £234,000

The son of a former councillor and his ex-business partner have been ordered to pay back a total of £234,000 for their part in a drugs production empire.

Ali Munir, whose father is former Walsall councillor Mohammed Munir, and Shazad Ali were both jailed for five-and-a-half years at Wolverhampton Crown Court in February last year.

The pair, from Walsall, both admitted conspiracy to produce produce cannabis, along with a number of others. The sums involved totalled millions of pounds.

The convictions came about as part of Operation Zedoaray, an investigation by Walsall detectives and the economic crime unit into the running of industrial scale cannabis factories.

Following a number of search warrants, £60,000 in cash was seized using proceeds of crime legislation. Drugs estimated to be valued at £2,292,000 were recovered from 37 premises which were let through the pair's Walsall business.

The court heard last year that Munir was a main player in a "dark and unlawful" conspiracy.

During a proceeds of crime hearing at Birmingham Crown Court, 32-year-old Munir, of Thorpe Road, has now been ordered to pay £116,000. Ali, 32, of Brookhouse Road, was ordered to pay £118,000. Both were ordered to pay within six months or serve an extra two years in prison.