Drug peddler 'who loved the lifestyle' found with £253,000 stash and £112,000 of Rolex watches at Leeds home
An “industrious and hard-working” drug dealer who admitted he loved the lifestyle was found with three Rolex watches worth £112,000, while safety deposit boxes in Leeds city centre in his name contained more than £253,000 in cash.
An extensive police investigation led to the raid on Curtis Clark’s home in Whitkirk, while a cannabis-farm set-up was found at his mother’s home in Gipton.
The 24-year-old was found to be orchestrating street dealers in Leeds and he was jailed for more than five years at Leeds Crown Court this week.
Prosecutor Tom Jackson said that officers executed warrants for Clark’s address on Gibson Drive and his mother’s home on South Farm Road on November 18 last year.
At Clark’s home they found £17,300 in cash, scales, designer clothing and the three expensive Rolex watches. He was not there at the time.
At his mother’s home they found mobile phones, more designer clothing and the loft had been kitted out with equipment ready to be used to grow cannabis.
In a shed outside the property they found boxes of business cards for a known drug line, a machete and small amount of ketamine, crack cocaine and cocaine.
Evidence gathered by officers suggested Clark was responsible for directing the street dealers and setting prices for various drugs.
Their searches also led them to St James’ Safe Deposit - a former bank vault on Russell Street, Leeds city centre - where they found £201,000 in one box and £52,000 in another. Clark had accessed them 22 times from August last year.
Days later Clark was arrested at Manchester Airport days later after landing on a flight from Dubai.
He admitted conspiracy to supply Class A and Class B drugs, and possession of criminal property.
Mr Jackson said despite a lack of drugs being found in Clark’s possession, the scale of the operation was clear from the amount of cash uncovered.
He said that Clark had ties to another dealer, Andre Craig, who was jailed last year, which allowed police to piece together the case against Clark.
Mitigating, Graeme Wilson pointed to Clark’s age and lack of previous convictions.
He said he was “full and frank” with police about his involvement, admitting he became embroiled in the drug trade in his teenage years.
He said he was “recruited” but conceded: “Part of the attraction was the lifestyle and the money. He has not shied away from that particular fact.”
Mr Wilson said Clark was paid a weekly wage, and the cash deposited in the safety deposit boxes belonged to the “business”.
Clark was in Thailand when he heard the police were looking for him, so booked a flight home to “face the music”.
The judge, Recorder Taryn Turner told Clark: “You are said to be a bright and intelligent young man. It’s probably the reason why you became so quickly entrenched in this lifestyle.
“You were used by others higher up the chain. You were plainly hard working, industrious, clever, quiet and just got on with the job.
“And your job was peddling these vicious and wicked drugs on the streets of this city.”
She jailed him for 65 months.
A Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) timetable was set in order to investigate whether additional money from Clark’s dealings can be confiscated.