An East Ham drug dealer who denied his involvement with a gang has been jailed aftre the court was shown YouTube videos of him rapping with fellow members.

Basildon Crown Court heard how Kasende Kasongo, of Langdon Road, was arrested in Pitsea, Essex, in August following reports of men acting suspiciously in an alleyway.

When police arrived, 25-year-old Kasongo ran off, throwing items over a garden fence, but was arrested and searched.

Officers found two mobile phones linking him to crack cocaine and heroin deals in Basildon, as well as £345 cash.

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

During the hearing on Friday, Kasongo’s defence counsel claimed there was “no intelligence” he was related to the Woodgrange gang.

However officers from the South Operation Raptor team and the Metropolitan Police’s Gangs Unit asked the court to show YouTube videos of the gang rapping, which featured Kasongo and demonstrated he was in a fact a high-ranking member of the gang.

The evidence was accepted by the judge and Kasongo was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Following the sentencing, investigating officer PC Andy Heard said: “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.”

Anyone with information about drug or gang-related crime in your community is asked to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.