Drugs boss has £203k seized
The jailed ringleader of a drugs gang which traded in cocaine and ecstasy has been back before a court as police claw back the proceeds of his crime.
Andrew Blake, of South Hetton, was jailed for 14 years in2019afterbeingfoundguilty ofconspiracytosupplycocaine and ecstasy.
Now he has appeared before Teesside Crown Court to faceaProceedsofCrimeApplication, where a judge ruled his criminal activities earned him £2.3million.
He was ordered to pay back £203,151.09, which is what his current assets – two houses, and a quantity of cash recovered, and money saved in a bank account – are valued at.
Blake must return the money within the next three months or face the prospect of his jail term being extended by anothertwoyears,whilepolice have pledged to keep a watch on his finances and make further applications if his assets increase.
The 43-year-old, previously of Regent Court, was identified as the leading player of a 17-strong gang, with its members all convicted for their
part in a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
As he and his associates were jailed, the court was told Blake was a “major recipient of cocaine” and received around15kilosofthedrugover an 18-month period.
Police identified individualswhovisitedhisaddressand took amounts of the drug to be sold to an existing network of customers.
More than 40 detectives were involved in a lengthy surveillance operation to bring down the gang, leading to seizures of drugs and more than £100,000 in cash.
Operation Sidra, run by Durham Constabulary from 2014, was a long-running police operation to crack down
on dealing across the county, using information from those living in the communities affected.
The Proceeds of Crime ApplicationwaspartofOperation Sentinel, the police’s North East fight against serious organised crime.
Detective Sergeant Thomas Maughan, of the North-East Regional Economic Crime Unit, said: “We are happy with the outcome, however, make no mistake, if Blake’s assets increase further, we will make a further application to recoup that money. This order shows that in addition to prosecuting those who believe they are above the law we will also pursue them to deprive them of their criminal gains.”