MMA fighter brothers embroiled in £250k drugs gang peddling cocaine, MDMA and ketamine made 'stupidest mistake of their lives'

-Credit: (Image: GMP)
-Credit: (Image: GMP)


Three brothers caught with more than £250,000 worth of drugs after peddling cocaine, MDMA and ketamine to students made the ‘stupidest mistake of their lives’, a judge said. Filmon Goitom, 36, Yannick Goitom, 21, and Nils Tesfu, 22, were the dealers behind the ‘Ricky’ drugs line.

Police were alerted to the operation after discovering a business card with the drugs line phone number outside student accommodation in Manchester city centre. A ‘preferred area’ where the dealers would organise drug drop-offs was outside the Joshua Brooks ‘student nightclub’ in the city, Manchester Crown Court heard.

The brothers, with both younger siblings having been promising mixed martial arts fighters prior to their incarceration, were rumbled after police scoured phone data and CCTV footage. They have all now been locked up.

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Jailing them, a judge told the siblings that they had ‘made the stupidest mistake of your lives’, adding that they were capable of living as ‘productive members of society’. Prosecuting, Colin Buckle told how police began investigating the drugs line after discovering the contact card outside accommodation on Hulme Street. Police were able to gain access to phone data which showed how car registration plates were sent in messages, so customers knew which vehicle to collect the drugs from.

Filmon Goitom -Credit:GMP
Filmon Goitom -Credit:GMP

Further investigations helped to implicate the brothers, who were living together in a flat in Burnage. Police raided the property on Burnage Lane before 7am on November 1 last year as the trio slept.

During searches, officers recovered 297g of cocaine, worth £43,670 on the streets, 252g of MDMA worth £7,965 and 8.2 kilos of ketamine worth £224,675. Shoe boxes stuffed with about £20,000 in cash were also discovered.

Yannick Goitom -Credit:GMP
Yannick Goitom -Credit:GMP

The trio, all of Burnage Lane, Manchester, pleaded guilty to one count of being concerned in the supply of cocaine, one count of being concerned in the supply of MDMA, one count of being concerned in the supply of ketamine. The judge, Recorder Michael Armstrong, sentenced Filmon Goitom to four years and one month in prison, while Yannick Goitom and Tesfu were both jailed for three years and nine months. Defending Filmon Goitom, Keith Harrison said the defendant felt ‘a degree of responsibility’ for the position his younger brothers are in.

He said that the oldest sibling has acted as a parental figure to his younger brothers, and has had jobs to provide for his family. Mr Harrison said Goitom is an ‘intelligent’ and ‘qualified’ man who has a degree and a Masters degree. Richard Orme, for Yannick Goitom, said the defendant is ‘struggling’ in prison and has ‘learnt his lesson’.

Nils Tesfu -Credit:GMP
Nils Tesfu -Credit:GMP

He said Goitom competes at a ‘high level’ in mixed martial arts, and has the ‘potential to go on to represent his country’. “It’s something that appears to be his raison d’etre,” Mr Orme said.

Rhia Abukhalil, for Nils Tesfu, said he was a professional MMA fighter and was also involved in coaching. The trio now also face an investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act, as prosecutors seek to claw back their ill-gotten gains.