A DRUG dealer who handled more than £62,000 in criminal cash in just months has been jailed for six years.

Muhammed Ceesay, 39, was caught red-handed as he headed for a drug deal, a jury at York Crown Court heard.

He had cannabis worth between £4,000 and £4,500 in street deals and ecstasy worth between £420 and £560.

Detectives discovered he had handled more than £62,000 in criminal money over a four month period.

Ceesay, of Hansom Place, off Wigginton Road, York, denied charges of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply them, possessing class B drugs with intent to supply them and money laundering.

The jury convicted him unanimously of all three offences after less than 15 minutes in retirement on what Judge Simon Hickey after the verdicts described as “overwhelming and clear evidence”.

Jailing Ceesay, the judge said: “I make it clear to everyone selling drugs in this city, particularly class A drugs, ... they cause misery, degradation and even death and lead to these courts having to deal with a plethora of other offences such as burglary and theft by users who become addicted and have to fund their habits.”

A police officer had caught Ceesay red-handed on a driveway on his way to a drug deal and text messages on his phone provided clear evidence of drug dealing.

Ceesay had dealt in cannabis and skunk cannabis, which the judge called a “highly addictive drug that causes psychosis and damage to the minds of our youngsters".

Ceesay had laundered money over a considerable period of time.

For Ceesay, Holly Betke said he had never been in trouble with the police before and handed in a letter from Ceesay’s partner about him.

Ecstasy is a class A drug, the same category as heroin and cocaine, and cannabis is a class B drug.

Ceesay will return to York Crown Court for an assets confiscation hearing after police financial experts decide how much he made through his crimes and how much his assets are worth.