"Dirty Cash" Rolex Dealer Jailed for Drugs Operation

(IDEX Online) - A drug dealer who ran a Rolex watch business as a front for his criminal activities has been jailed for 15 years by a court in the UK.

Bertie Payne, aged 30, led a group of seven men who supplied and distributed 24kg of cocaine, 10kg of ketamine and 5,000 ecstasy tablets across east Kent between August 2024 and January 2025, according to police, in a criminal operation worth over $1m.

During their investigation into his business, About Bezels Ltd, officers from Kent Police found security camera footage that showed Payne singing the 1989 hit Dirty Cash (Money Talks) by Adventures of Stevie V, with a large Rolex watch box next to him. The lyrics include the line: "Dirty cash I want you, dirty cash I need you."

Officers also seized 38 watches - most of them Rolex - with a combined value of more than $534,000.

Payne was arrested in January 2025 as he was about to hand another man $67,000 in cash. Both men were wearing luxury watches and had more watches inside their vehicles.

In a statement, Kent Police said Payne ran the luxury watch business as a front for drug trafficking and money laundering, allowing him to fake invoices so he could run large amounts of cash through the accounts.

"Payne thought his operation was sophisticated and that he wouldn't get found out but his sentencing shows that crime doesn't pay and that if you are involved in criminality you will be caught and you will face the consequences," said investigating officer Martin Lacey.

Payne was jailed at Maidstone Crown Court, in Kent, for 15 years after he pleaded guilty to money laundering and drug dealing offenses. Seven other defendants were also sentenced.

Pictures, courtesy Kent Police, show Bertie Payne singing Dirty Cash (Money Talks), and (inset) headshot of Payne.