A baguette shop owner who made £21,000 from supplying MDMA and cocaine has been ordered to pay back just £11,000. He began dealing drugs after his business began to fail during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Furat Shilawe, 25, the owner of Bella's Baguettes in Cardiff, was stopped by police in the city on March 22, 2020, after he appeared to slump behind the wheel of his BMW. He was described as "nervous and fidgety" as his car was searched and an enveloped containing £1,700 was discovered. Also found was the key to a silver Vauxhall Astra.
When police visited the defendant's home above the baguette shop in Crywys Road, Cathays, they discovered the Vauxhall was parked 100 yards away. When they looked in the boot of the car, they discovered a number of packages containing a rock and white powder.
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The rock was found to be 617g of MDMA while various bags of cocaine, amounting to 18.25g were discovered. Also found was creatine, an adulterant, electric scales, a pocket scale, and grip seal bags. The total street values of the drugs was between £7,305 and £10,395.
Shilawe's fingerprints were found the drugs packaging and on the car doors of the Vauxhall, and leaflets relating to Bella's Baguettes were found in the glove compartment. An EncroChat phone was also seized among two other phones.
The defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of class A. He was sentenced to to two years imprisonment suspended for 18 months, in March this year. Shilawe was also ordered to carry out a 10 day rehabilitation activity requirement and 200 hours unpaid work.
A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday heard Shilawe benefited to the tune of £21,264 as a result of his offending, but only had assets worth £11,867. Judge Niclas Parry ordered the defendant to pay that sum within 28 days or receive a further sentence of six months imprisonment in default.
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