Borough Housing Officer and Magistrate Aided Drug Kingpin
Purshotam Dhillon helped direct operations while gang leader was in prison
Purshotam Dhillon at the time of his arrest. Picture: Met Police
July 3, 2026
A Hounslow borough housing officer who also served as a magistrate has been jailed for seven years after a Metropolitan Police investigation revealed he was helping to run a major west London drug-dealing operation.
Purshotam Dhillon, 59, was arrested after detectives uncovered his role in a criminal network supplying heroin and crack cocaine across London, a discovery that shocked colleagues and court officials who had known him as a long-standing public servant.
Dhillon, who lived in Lampton Avenue, had spent years working within Hounslow Council’s housing department while simultaneously sitting as a magistrate in west London courts. Police said he used the credibility and authority of both positions to shield the activities of the gang’s ringleader, Hardeep “Harry” Singh Thind, and to provide a safe base of operations for the storage and preparation of drugs. Officers found that Dhillon allowed a van containing substantial quantities of heroin to be parked outside his home and permitted drugs to be weighed and packaged inside the property. He also stored cash and equipment for the group, becoming a trusted figure within the network despite being, according to investigators, a self-confessed drug user himself.
Thind, who had previously been serving a 17-year sentence for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and possession of a Skorpion submachine gun, continued directing the network from inside an open prison using a mobile phone. After his release in October 2024, he expanded the operation across Hayes and Southall, recruiting dealers and maintaining contact with all key members. Phone data, surveillance and forensic evidence showed Thind coordinating multiple drug lines worth more than £100,000, with Dhillon acting as one of the individuals who enabled the operation to function.
The investigation began in January 2024 when officers identified a highly active drugs line known as “Hadi.” Analysis of call data revealed Thind as the central figure and Dhillon as one of the people supporting the supply chain. On 1 July 2025, coordinated warrants were executed across west London, leading to the arrest of Dhillon, Thind and two other members of the network. Officers seized heroin, crack cocaine, cash, scales, packaging materials, mobile phones and transaction lists, with a total street value of around £174,000.
Dhillon was convicted by a unanimous jury verdict in May 2025. Thind was jailed for twelve years and six months, while two other defendants, Bikramjit Brar and Leandrea Lynch, received sentences of three years and four months and a suspended two-year, six-month term respectively. Footage released by the Metropolitan Police showed the moment Dhillon was arrested on a bed in his home, a stark contrast to the formal roles he had held in public life.
Hardeep Thind (Harry Singh) being read his rights at the time of his arrest . Picture: Met Police
Detective Inspector Mark Gavin of the Met’s Specialist Crime Command said Dhillon had abused a position of trust “in the most serious way,” adding that the case demonstrated that no one is above the law. The conviction has raised concerns about safeguarding and oversight within public institutions, given Dhillon’s simultaneous roles in administering justice and overseeing planning matters in the borough.
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