Drug dealers who posed with marijuana and cash face jail

Evening Standard/LondonDrug dealers who posed for photographs with wads of cash and a plastic bag stuffed with marijuana were yesterday facing jail after police officers smashed a Notting Hill gang.Large quantities of cash and class A and B drugs were seized as more than 100 officers carried out dawn raids on 18 homes in May, following a bloody turf war.Mobile phones belonging to the five men were also recovered. On one, detectives found a photo of Sophian Chhayra, 24, grinning while clutching a bag of cannabis to his chest. Zakaria Chentouf, 24, was also pictured staring at the camera with a stack of notes.Three other men, Ahmed Mahomud, 20, his brother Yousif Mahomud, 19, and Fouad Soussi, 20, also face jail.The gang, based in north Kensington, were arrested following a police operation set up in response to a five-month surge in violent assaults. Detectives identified seven attacks connected to “territorial” drug issues.The men pleaded guilty to various drug offences and were being jailed today at Isleworth crown court. Detective Constable Helen Lomas said: “This investigation overcame some major hurdles, particularly because there was a continued wall of silence about the spate of linked violence earlier this year.“The individuals used their mobile phone cameras to gloat about their success in illegal trade. This helped secure their undoing.”