A drug gang which made so much money that it left bundles of £20 notes to rot was ordered to pay back nearly £6million today.
The smugglers, who became known as the ‘Tesco’ of the cannabis world, hid super-strong skunk in crates of flowers from Holland to conceal its stench for delivery into ports in Essex and Hull, in the North East.
The 'Flowers Gang' enjoyed holidays in Dubai, Italy and Spain, and invested in 12 plush £500,000 property developments in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands.
Wads of rotting £10 and £20 notes were discovered by police when they raided the drug smuggling gang's safehouses after a 14-month undercover operation
The activities of the 12-strong mob, who were all jailed for a total of more than 100 years, earned them more than £20million in profits and inspired an episode of BBC crime drama The Shadow Line.
The gang flooded Britain’s streets with almost 19 tonnes of the drug between June 2006 and November 2008, believed to be the UK’s biggest wholesale cannabis operation.
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But they could not spend their cash quickly enough, and when police raided safe houses after a 14-month undercover operation they recovered wads of decaying £10 and £20 notes.
Today Judge Gregory Stone QC ordered four members to pay a total of nearly £6million and warned the convicts of years added to their sentence if they don’t pay within six months.
Southwark Crown Court heard how the criminals ‘have been reduced to a state of bankruptcy’ by the orders.
Kingpin Anthony Mills, 44 , was described as one of Britain’s most wanted fugitives before his arrest two years ago.
Mills created a ‘board of directors’ overseeing a nationwide drug sales network from company headquarters in Surrey.
Large packages of super-strong skunk cannabis were recovered when police stopped the gang's smuggling network - believed to be the biggest of its kind in Britain
Ringleader Anthony Mills, left - earlier jailed for 17 and a half years - must pay almost £1.7million or face an additional seven years in prison, and his deputy Terence Bowler, right, who is currently serving a 16-year sentence, was ordered to pay nearly £1.5million or face an extra six and a half years in jail
The drugs were hidden inside crates of flowers from Holland, labelled 'American Leaf', then taken to a network of distribution hubs across Britain were they were sold on at a large mark-up
Boxes of imported flowers were found to contain skunk cannabis, pictured, and played a key part in the gang's estimated £20million profits
Prosecutor Timothy Cray said: ‘If the man pushing cannabis on the street, the small-time dealer, is equivalent to the market trader selling his fruit and veg outside London Bridge station, then this group were the big players, the Tesco.
Mills also oversaw a huge money laundering operation, setting up companies in international tax havens Switzerland, Panama and the British Virgin Islands, to hide profits.
He also had interests in UK property through his security consultancy company, A and M Services, which claimed to specialise in surveillance and phone tapping.
The cannabis was grown in vast greenhouses hidden among legitimate crops. Regular shipments arrived via Harwich port in Essex hidden inside boxes of flowers from Holland, labelled ‘American Leaf’.
When customs officials at the ferry port disrupted their supply chain by seizing a £750,000 shipment, the crooks simply switched their operation to Hull in the North East.
The crates were dropped off at a warehouse registered to T&K Flowers in Chatham, Kent, before being delivered to secure lock-ups in Kingston, Worcester Park, Epsom, and Ashtead, all in Surrey.
A trial in 2010 and 2011 heard how the gang flooded the market with £62million worth of skunk over two years.
Mark Kinnimont, left, who is also serving 14 years, must pay nearly £1.3million within six months or face another six years in prison and Peter Moran, right, was ordered to pay nearly £1.5million or face another six and a half years on top of his 14-year sentence
The gang paid £2,200 per kg for the drug, and made profits by selling it to regional UK wholesalers at £3,400 - who peddled it on the street for £5,760 per kg.
Today Mills, 44, who was earlier jailed for 17 and a half years, was ordered to pay back nearly £1.7million and told he would face an extra seven years behind bars if he refused.
His deputy Terence Bowler, 44, who is currently serving a 16-year sentence, was ordered to pay nearly £1.5million or face an extra six and a half years.
Peter Moran, 40, was ordered to pay nearly £1.5million or face another six and a half years on top of his 14-year sentence.
And Mark Kinnimont, 43, also serving 14 years, must pay nearly £1.3million or face another six years in prison.
A further eight gang members were jailed for their role in the drugs ring.
Roger Alexander, 46, a major drug dealer based in Buckinghamshire, was jailed for eight and a half years, couriers Liam Salter, 41, and Timothy Sullivan, 40, were jailed for seven years each, Andrew West, 38, was jailed for 18 months, David Couchman, 40, was jailed for six and a half years, lorry driver Peter Brown, 39, was jailed for three and a half years and Barrie Burn, 61, was jailed for four years, reduced on appeal to three.
Another member, James Hay, 33, was convicted of involvement in the organisation and jailed for three and a half years.
Money transfer bureau owner Asim Bashir, 37, was found guilty of helping the gang move money out of the country using his business as cover and jailed for six years.