An Essex drug dealer, who denied involvement with a notorious local gang, was jailed after the courts were shown YouTube videos of him rapping with other members of the group.

Basildon Crown Court heard how 25-year-old Kasende Kasongo was arrested by Essex Police on August 14 this year in Beambridge, Pitsea, following a 999 call to reports of men acting suspiciously in an alleyway.

Upon the police’s arrival, Kasongo ran off and threw items over a garden fence, before being quickly arrested by officers.

The suspect was searched and found with two mobile phones which contained a series of text messages linking him to three county lines dealing crack cocaine and heroin in Basildon. He was also found with £345 in cash.

Kasongo, of Langdon Road, East Ham, was charged and pleaded guilty to two counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs heroin and crack cocaine.

During the hearing at Basildon Crown Court however, Kasongo’s defence counsel claimed that there was “no intelligence” that he was related to the Woodgrange gang.

Officers from the South Operation Raptor team and the Metropolitan Police’s Gangs Unit asked the court to show YouTube videos of the Woodgrange gang rapping, which featured Kasongo and demonstrated that he was actually a 'high-ranking' member of the gang.

The evidence was accepted by the judge and Kasongo was sentenced to four-and-a-half years behind bars on Friday, November 24.

Following the sentencing investigating officer PC Andy Heard of the South Operation Raptor team said: “When we arrested Kasongo it was clear he was travelling into our town from London to supply Class A drugs.

“The phone evidence clearly linked him to drug dealing but he continually tried to deny his association with them.

“However, sadly for Kasongo, all the evidence we needed to demonstrate that he was not only in the gang, but also a high-ranking member, was there for all to see online.

“Operation Raptor will continue to target those, like Kasongo, who are involved in gang-related crime and think they can come into our county to deal drugs.”
