Two cocaine-dealing brothers have been ordered to pay back £401 of their ill-gotten gains – though one sibling is contributing just £1 to that total. Hannan and Rahman Hafeez were arrested after police raided their home and found their stash of coke hidden in a secret compartment in the ceiling. Phone evidence showed they had been dealing to dozens of customers.
The brothers were jailed in August this year with a judge saying it was clear from everything he had read about the pair that they were from a good family and had not been brought up to involve themselves in the “insidious trade” of peddling drugs. It was the second time Rahman Hafeez had been caught dealing cocaine – the first was when he turned to dealing to fund the £1,000-a-month coke habit he developed while studying accountancy at university.
The siblings returned to the dock of Swansea Crown Court following an investigation into their finances under Proceeds of Crime Act powers. Regan Walters, prosecuting, said it had been determined that Hannan Hafeez had benefitted from his criminal conduct to the tune of £232,049 but investigators had been unable to find any assets save for the £400 in cash seized during the police raid. At the time of his arrest the defendant had claimed the money was the proceeds of doing “cash in hand” jobs. The prosecutor said Rahman Hafeez had benefitted from his criminal conduct to the sum of £113,048 but investigators had been unable to identify any available assets. Judge Catherine Richards made a forfeiture and confiscation order in the sum of £400 against Hannan Hafeez and a nominal £1 order in the case of his brother. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here.
READ MORE: Martin Roberts says Homes Under the Hammer crew found body in bedroom
READ MORE: A stocky man with a heavy limp was found dead in remote woods 45 years ago. He has never been identified
At the sentencing hearing in August the court heard how police executed a search warrant at the house the Hafeez brothers shared on Neath Road in Morriston, Swansea, on June 3 this year. In one of the bedrooms officers noticed a ceiling fan was hanging loose, and when they reached into the void behind the fan they found bags of white powder. Officers also uncovered weighing scales and empty snap-seal bags. The court heard that in another bedroom officers found 117 cannabis vapes carrying names such as “Granddaddy Purple” along with £400 in cash. Hafeez’s phone was seized and though he refused to disclose his PIN officers were able to bypass the passcode and access the device, finding messages relating to drug dealing stretching back to February this year including bulk texts which had been sent to 70 contacts.
Rahman Hafeez, 25, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply and possession of cannabis with intent to supply. He has one previous conviction for two offences. In 2022 he was sentenced to three years in prison for possession of cocaine with intent to supply – on that occasion the court heard he had been studying for a degree in accountancy and finance at university in Swansea when he developed a £1,000-a-month cocaine habit and, unable to fund his addiction as a student, had turned to supplying the drug. He was on prison release licence at the time of the new offending. Hannan Hafeez, 26, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of cocaine, and possession of cannabis with intent to supply. He has no previous convictions.
Sending the pair down, Judge Huw Rees said it was clear from everything he had read that the siblings came from a good family and he was sure they had not been brought up to involve themselves in the “insidious trade” of peddling drugs. With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas Hannan Hafeez was sentenced to 36 months in prison. With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas – pleases entered at an earlier stage in the court process – Rahman Hafeez was sentenced to 40 months in prison.
This interactive tool allows you to check the latest crime statistics for your area: