28 December 2023 , 20:33
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A pair of crack dealers blackmailed a homeless teenager by putting on a fake robbery to force him into debt bondage.
Abshir Ahmed, 31, from MacFarland Road, and accomplice Yasir Hugogi, 26, from Becklow Road, both in Shepherd's Bush, utilised a trick from a Top Boy storyline to make their 19-year-old victim think he had lost the drugs and had to pay £1,000. Both men had previous convictions for drug offences, and were jailed for fifteen years at Isleworth Crown Court on December 21.
Following a trial in which they were found guilty of blackmail and two counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs for crack and heroin, Ahmed was convicted of possession of heroin, crack cocaine, and cocaine. The prosecution said the men played a 'management function' in the drugs supply but ran their own operation from Midland Terrace, North Acton, where they had 'cuckooed' the home of a 60-year-old cannabis smoker to prepare and sell drugs.
Approximately 85g of crack was seized in a police raid, worth around £6,000, with profits from the scheme thought to run into the thousands, the court heard. Their blackmail victim was estranged from his family, MyLondon reports. He had been thrown out of his home with no money and nowhere to live, when the dealers took him under their wing. The prosecutor said: "All of this was known to the defendants and this was why they targeted him."
Ahmed and Huqoqi pulled the victim into debt by giving him £1,000 worth of drugs to sell, then deliberately had him robbed in a 'set-up' so he believed he owed them money, the prosecution claimed. When the twosome drove him to his home and threatened to hurt his mum if he did not bring their cash, he already paid them £250 and was working for free, the court heard.
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"They demanded he go inside and bring them all the money he could find," the prosecutor said. "In the car, threats were made to him and reference was made at the time to his family and the defendant said they knew where his mother and father lived."
The court also heard how the victim was 'beaten up', but separate kidnap allegations were not proven in the trial. Ahmed was jailed for eight years and Huqoqi was jailed for seven years, while both were banned from making contact with their victim and ordered to pay a victim surcharge.