Posing in front of thousands of pounds in cash this gambling drug dealer had no idea this photograph would be used to prove his criminality.
The image taken from an iphone belonging to Olsi Beheluli showed investigators he was a key part of a multi-million drug dealing gang.
The 24-year-old had a ‘stash house’ in Harp Island Close, Neasden, when he kept drugs, cash, counterfeit identity documents, scales and other paraphernalia associated with his dealing.
Today at Blackfriars Crown Court he was jailed for 11 years after he was found guilty of conspiring to supply class A drugs.
He was snared after officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) busted his network and seized heroin and cocaine worth £4m from his associates Besim Topalli, 29 and Azem Proshka, 23.
They also recovered powdered caffeine and paracetemol, which would be used as cutting agents, and around £100,000 in pound sterling and euro notes.
At the time of Beheluli’s arrest NCA officers found betting slips showing he had recently placed stakes worth £12,000 at Ladbrokes and William Hill bookmakers.
His student bank account contained a whopping £24,000, which he claimed was winnings from previous gambles.
Beheluli initially claimed the money in the photo , estimated at £250,000, wasn’t his and the picture was taken at a relative’s house in his homeland of Albania.
But the distinctive wallpaper and furniture proved the photograph had been taken in a flat in Harrow he had previously rented.
Topalli and Proshka, who had earlier admitted conspiring to supply class A drugs, money laundering and possessing false ID documents, were jailed for 10 years.
Oliver Higgins, NCA branch commander, said: “Beheluli seemed to enjoy the high life and gambling with the money he made from drug dealing, but in the end his luck run out.
“These men were involved in supplying significant quantities of high-purity class A drugs, as demonstrated by the value of the cash, cocaine and heroin we have seized from them.
“But they were unaware that they were being watched by the NCA, and their arrest and subsequent conviction should have the wider criminal fraternity looking over their shoulders.
“My message to them would be that we are determined to find you, bring you justice and deprive you of any criminal profits.”
All three will be deported back to Albania once they have served their sentences.
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