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A convicted drugs kingpin was found guilty of money laundering despite his insistence he dealt only in cars, dogs, metal and "bits and bobs".

Carl Hannan, 35, is serving a 15-and-a-half-year prison sentence for being the leader of a Teesside cocaine and heroin dealing operation.

Now he has been convicted of converting criminal property, a money laundering offence.

Jurors found him guilty after just over seven-and-a-half hours' consideration after a separate trial at Teesside Crown Court.

Hannan, of Caithness Road, Normanby, had told the jury: "I've never been a drug dealer."

He claimed he was "bullied" in the drugs case when he was convicted of conspiring to supply Class A drugs.

In July he was jailed for 15-and-a-half years - a sentence he branded "a f****** joke" as he left the dock.

He made a similar expletive-peppered outburst as he was taken back to the cells after the jury's 11-1 majority verdict on Wednesday afternoon.

Hannan was one of 14 men who have been jailed for a total of more than 80 years for the cross-country drugs plot.

Drugs boss used 11 phone numbers

He was accused of being the head of the Teesside gang "at the very heart of this conspiracy".

Criminal gangs in Teesside, Newcastle and Liverpool - all headed by convicted dealers - worked together to deal drugs, some hiding their trade behind legitimate business.

Dealers used cheap, throwaway “dirty phones” or “graft phones” in the illicit business, changing them regularly to frustrate police.

Officers smashed the 2016 plot and seized 3.5kg of heroin, 135g of cocaine, 3kg of cutting agents and “dealer lists” referring to over £2m.

The last man to be sentenced was Gordon Mackenzie, 33, of Benedict Street, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough.

He was jailed for two-and-a-half years in October for his role in the drugs ring, looking after Hannan's graft phones.

Hannan used 11 phone numbers as others helped him traffic heroin and cocaine in the North-east, said prosecutor Andrew Haslam QC.

Denied being 'big-time drug dealer'

As he stood trial accused of money laundering this month, he still denied involvement in drugs supply and suggested he was appealing his conviction.

He denied converting criminal property between December 2015 and October 2016.

His barrister Nigel Edwards put to him the allegation that he was a "big-time drug dealer" once at the top of Middlesbrough's supply chain, with "buckets of cash kicking around".

He denied any of his income was from drug dealing: "I've never been a drug dealer.

"I know I've been convicted of it but that's with my appeal.

"I haven't dealt in drugs."

He maintained he made tens of thousands of pounds from selling vehicles, scrap metal and "bits and bobs", trading and breeding dogs, and knocking down a pub.

He said his primary occupation was fixing, buying and selling cars.

"I was buying motorbikes, mountain bikes, anything. Just buying and selling," Hannan told the court.

"Cars, demolitions, all different things, buying bits of plant machinery, selling them on.

'Anything I could make a pound on - but not drugs'

"I was doing lots of cars. I was coming home and doing them on my drive.

"Just trying to buy bits and bobs, anything I could make a pound on. But not drugs."

He said he bought five or six "smashed up" cars a month and made £4,000 to £7,000 per month from his activities.

He told jurors he did not declare his income to the taxman or keep a proper book of accounts.

He maintained money put into his account, as much as £24,000 at one point, was from copper cable, scrap metal and the sale of vehicles.

He told how he was paid £13,000 cash for demolishing a pub after a handshake deal.

Asked about his qualifications for that job, he said: "I know how to drive a machine and that."

He said he "brayed in" the pub floor, filled the cellar with bricks and sold slate and wood from the site.

Money laundering sentence will not add to existing jail term

He estimated he made £15,000 to £20,000 from weighing in scrap metal, with no tax paid on the proceeds.

He told how he had a pony, two sheep, nine dogs, six rabbits, a goldfish and a piece of land he bought for £20,000 on the website Gumtree.

Judge Peter Armstrong remanded Hannan in custody until he is sentenced for the money laundering.

He said: "It'll be a concurrent sentence to the sentence you're serving so it's not going to add to it."

Hannan will still face an order to pay ill-gotten gains to the state under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

His wife Donna Hannan, 39, also of Caithness Road, was cleared by the jury of converting criminal property.