The first picture of a drug dealer who fled to Iran and remained on the run for six years has been released.
Hossien Tahmasebi has been jailed for eight years after he was arrested for collecting £90,000 worth of drugs cash in Harborne, Birmingham. The 44-year-old had travelled from his home in Leeds, where the National Crime Agency subsequently discovered nearly a quarter of a million pounds worth of crystal meth, further cash as well as evidence he had laundered more than £200,000 in a matter of days.
He was bailed in November 2015 and told to return to the former Steelhouse Lane police station in the February of 2016. However, he sold his home, fled the country and arranged for his belongings to be sent to Iran, BirminghamLive reports.
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He was detained in Paris and extradited last year. On Friday, March 31, he was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court to ten years having been found guilty of possession with intent to supply a class A drug, possession of criminal property and two counts of money laundering.
Rick Mackenzie, operations manager at the National Crime Agency, said: "Money laundering is essential to organised crime, enabling perpetrators to hide their profits and continue funding their illicit activities.
“By fleeing to Iran, Hossien Tahmasebi went to great lengths to evade justice. His extradition back to the UK after more than six years on the run shows there is no hiding place, and is another example of the NCA’s international reach helping to secure a fugitive’s conviction."
Officers spotted Tahmasebi pull up in a Toyota at Wisley Way, Harborne, around 9am on November 11 in 2015 and collect £89,900 worth of cash in a shopping bag from another man. They followed him into the city centre and approached him, to which he acknowledged the money and said: "It's not mine".
Tahmasebi later claimed the cash was proceeds from selling a chip shop after he gave his brother money to invest in Iran which was supposedly being returned. He was bailed and told to come back for questioning on February 24, 2016, but a few days earlier he sold his home and caught a ferry to Holland.
Police had already raided the property at Fillingfir Road in Leeds. They found the crystal meth in a bag in the outdoor boiler cupboard, a further £36,000 in cash in his bedroom and dozens of bank deposit slips.
Recorder Patrick Upward KC concluded Tahmasebi played a 'serious role' in what was an almost 'industrial' scale drugs operation. His defence barrister Brian Kennedy told the court he was a 'collector' but not the 'Mr Big' of the supply line.
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