A court has ordered that more than £18,000 in cash found in a wardrobe at a drug dealer’s home be donated to around a dozen charities.

The money was found by police while searching the home of Rakeeb Ali in Peterborough in June. They also found £74,560 worth of cocaine and almost £1,000 worth of cannabis during their raid.

Cambridge Crown Court jailed Ali, 29, of Midland Road, West Town, Peterborough for four years and two months after he admitted drugs and ordered that a dozen local charities should benefit from the money found in his home.

Charities to receive around £1,700 each include Cambridge Aid, Cambridge Women’s Aid, Peterborough Council for Voluntary Service and Peterborough Council for Voluntary Service.

The Port, The Angels Foundation, Cambridge Cyrenians, Cambridge Community Foundation, The Red Hen Project, The Light Project and Young People’s Counselling Service have also received money.

“This was a great find by our Neighbourhood Support Team who were responding to concerns raised by the community about drug dealing,” said investigating officer
Detective Constable Stephanie Day.

“Drug dealing and the associated criminality can have a significant impact on communities, and I am glad something positive is coming from this with the cash being used to help those in need across Cambridgeshire.”

Earlier this year police in Peterborough handed Peterborough Women’s Aid £3,500 worth of suspected stolen goods.

The goods, including more than 100 shampoo and body wash bottles and 213 confectionary products, were seized by police attending a car boot sale in Peterborough in February.

“The families we work with often flee from domestic abuse with nothing, so essential items such as these are crucial for the women and children we work with, said Peterborough Women’s Aid chief executive Mandy Geraghty at the time.

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