Nelson Aliaj was sentenced to 15 years in prison in June 2019 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs, along with nine other members of the same organised crime group. The London-based gang had been marketing cocaine to residents of Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells, where Aliaj and others were found to have purchased top-up vouchers for the handset. Aliaj, 31, was also found to have been using the flat in Deptford where the phone was discovered. Following his imprisonment, financial investigators continued to assess Aliaj’s finances and applied for a confiscation order on the grounds that he had hidden assets in Albania, including property, land, and vehicles. The order was granted on Friday, January 13, 2023, at Canterbury Crown Court, and Aliaj must now pay £48,658 within the next three months. If he does not comply, he will have an additional 18 months added to his prison sentence and will still be required to pay. ‘The Proceeds of Crime Act is a very useful piece of legislation that ensures criminals like Nelson Aliaj are not allowed to keep the assets earned from their illegal activity,’ said Detective Inspector David Godfrey of the Economic Crime Unit. ‘It also means that we can continue to seize cash and property from offenders in the future if we believe they earned more than the assets they currently have available. We will therefore continue to monitor Aliaj’s finances after he is released from prison to ensure he does not profit from his criminal activities.’
