CANTERBURY — A convicted drug dealer has been ordered to surrender more than £31,000 in criminal profits following a Kent Police financial investigation.
Sami Hanbali, 25, was arrested in June 2025 after plain-clothes officers observed him selling cocaine from his vehicle in an Orgarswick Avenue car park. A search of the car revealed a secret compartment behind the radio containing a £12,000 block of cocaine. Investigators later discovered £26,000 in cash hidden in a safe at Hanbali’s guesthouse.
Hanbali, of Mayfield, East Sussex, was sentenced to 36 months in prison in August 2025 after pleading guilty to possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply and money laundering.
At a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Canterbury Crown Court on February 13, a judge ordered Hanbali to pay £31,144 within three months. Failure to meet the deadline will result in an additional mandatory prison sentence.
Detective Inspector David Godfrey said:
‘Drug dealers can make a lot of money off the misery of others and it is only right that they do not get to keep and enjoy their ill-gotten gains.
‘The Proceeds of Crime Act is a vital tool in tackling organised crime, as it enables us to stop that, as well as disrupting the criminal in their illegal activities. Some of the money recovered at court will now be put back into our communities to help improve the service we give to the people of Kent.’