A county lines drug dealer from Crowland who supplied class A drugs between Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire has been ordered to pay back more than £94,000 in ill-gotten gains.
Police carried out a warrant in February 2024, in Broadway and arrested 25-year-old Dominic Bevilacqua as part of Operation Hypernova, a force-wide crack down on county lines drug dealing and human trafficking.
Inside the property they found three mobile phones, including one linking him to the ‘Dom’ drugs line. They also seized 16 cannabis plants which were growing in an upstairs bedroom with a street value of up to £13,000.
In May 2024 Bevilacqua was sentenced to three years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine, cannabis, production of cannabis, three counts of assault by beating, possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and committing and act with intent to pervert the course of public justice.
Following his sentencing, the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit’s (ERSOU) Proceeds of Crime Unit (POCU) launched a financial investigation which discovered Bevilacqua had benefitted by a total of £185,748.15 from his criminal conduct.
A Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing held at Peterborough Crown Court last month, ordered Bevilacqua to repay his currently held cash and assets worth £94,230.88 and instructed that he pay this amount within three months or face a further six months in prison, where he would still be required to repay the money.
Senior financial investigation manager for POCU, Paul Fitzsimmons, said: “We will maximise every opportunity we can under POCA legislation, alongside our colleagues in police forces, to strip those who seek to benefit from their ill-gotten gains.
“Bevilacqua will now be made to pay for his actions, and we hope that this serves as a strong deterrent to anyone who thinks that they can profit financially from criminal activity.”
