Man who claimed he was male escort following Ipswich drug raid loses £1,700 seized

William Ferrera was arrested following the raid in Chesterton Close, Ipswich, on September 19, South East Suffolk Magistrates’ Court heard. However, he was never charged with any offence.

Andy Owens, representing the financial investigation unit of the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit, said a drug warrant was carried out on a property.

After officers went in they saw Ferrera throw a black bag out of the first floor living room window.

A police constable standing outside the premises saw the bag come out and searched it.

Inside was Clingfilm, £1,380 in cash and a tub of Vaseline.

When Ferrera, of Green Avenue, north-west London, was searched he had £180 in cash in his coat pocket and a further £170 in his trousers.

He also had four mobile phones on him, the court heard.

After his arrest he gave no comment in his first police interview.

However, Mr Owens said during a second interview Ferrera claimed the cash belonged to him and was the proceeds of him being a male escort for the previous eight months.

He claimed to have got work over the internet.

The remainder of the money come from his job seekers’ allowance, he told police.

However, he would not go into further details about tax or his employment.

A drugs’ officer checked the phones which had texts relating to the supply of Class A drugs.

The court was told Ferrera had three previous convictions for possession of a Class B drug since 2014.

The most recent was in Suffolk in March last year.

Giving evidence Eastern Region Special Operations Unit financial investigator Leanne Middleton told magistrates officers had made attempts to inform Ferrera of the forfeiture application for the cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act, but had received no correspondence from him.

He was not in court for the hearing.

The magistrates found in favour of the application and ordered the forfeiture of the seized cash.

The total amount of money came to £1,730.