A MAN who made national headlines after racking up £36,000 in speeding fines for racing a Lamborghini at 150mph around the streets of Dubai is a drugs kingpin.
Farah Hashi was jailed for 14 years and four months in 2021 for leading a gang who flooded the streets of Newport with heroin and cocaine.
And it has now emerged how the 30-year-old made nearly half a million pounds trafficking class A drugs in the city.
Hashi, of Francis Drive, Pill, Newport profited by a staggering £488,060.85 over a three-month period, a proceeds of crime hearing was told.
But the defendant has just £18,557.39 left in available assets, Newport Crown Court heard.
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Judge Hywel James told him he has to hand it over within three months or face an extra nine months behind bars.
Hashi’s driving antics had attracted the attention of the Fleet Street tabloids in the summer of 2018 when he was stranded in Dubai while on holiday.
Farah Hashi was back at Newport Crown Court this month for a proceeds of crime hearing
He had hired a £560-a-day Lamborghini Huracán and then spent four hours racing the bright yellow luxury supercar around the city’s streets.
Hashi triggered speed cameras as he hit speeds of 150mph racing along highways in the popular tourist destination.
The offences took place between 2.30am and 6am on the morning of July 31 when the roads were mostly deserted.
A Lamborghini Huracán can hit a speed of 200mph and can accelerate from 0 to 60mph in just 3.4 seconds. Picture: YouTube
The tourist was placed under house arrest and barred from leaving the United Arab Emirates city and returning to the UK until he paid off his huge fines.
Hashi also couldn’t get hold of his passport because the car rental company held on to the document as a guarantee for using the £260,000 supercar.
He was eventually allowed home around a month later after authorities slashed £10,000 off the original amount of £36,000 he had to pay.
Hashi had stayed at the luxurious Palm Jumeirah Hotel and Resort in Dubai five years ago
When Hashi was jailed for drug dealing in September 2021, prosecutor Heath Edwards said his gang was sometimes raking in as much as £5,000 a day.
They were primarily trafficking heroin and cocaine in Newport but also had links as far afield as Swansea.
The defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
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