Kingpin who ‘made £30m’ through cocaine and cannabis will return just £112,000
Gang boss allegedly brought £110m worth of drugs to our shores
A DRUGS kingpin said to have made £30m by smuggling cannabis and cocaine into the UK will pay back just £112,000.
Philip Baron is serving 18 years in prison after he allegedly brought £110m worth of drugs to our shores.
The "greedy" smuggler is said to have built the empire so he could lead "a lavish lifestyle".
Baron, from Salford in Manchester, had plush homes in Spain, the Republic of Ireland, and the UK.
He masterminded an international cartel that smuggled cocaine from South America to Spain, and then finally to the UK.
The kingpin, who was jailed in 2013, has been pulled back before a judge for a Proceeds of Crime hearing.
It was organised so that authorities could arrange seizing back some of the profits Baron enjoyed.
William Baker, prosecuting, told the court Baron is believed to have amassed a £29.5m fortune.
The only assets investigators could find totalled £112,000.
Baron, 60, chose not to contest the hearing before Judge David Aubrey ordered the entire sum should be seized.
The cash is made up of £100,000 found on his person, while the rest was seized in Ireland.
Baron, who posed an international property developer, will face an extra year in prison if the money isn't handed over within 3 months.
He has earlier confessed to importing cocaine and cannabis, and was jailed along with 28 members of his gang.
The drug gang smuggled more than 52 tonnes into the UK, and were said by Judge Aubrey to have been motivated by "avarice and greed".
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) said the group smuggled drugs over a 15 year period - laundering millions of pounds of illegal profits.
Two shipments of cocaine that were found had a combined street value of £19.2m.
When sentenced, the judge said of Baron’s smuggling: “It was driven by avarice and greed.
“It was a trade and an empire and you cared not for the lives of others. You may have destroyed lives. It may have led people to commit crime. It may have led to despair and desperation. None of that concerned you. You were only concerned with yourself and leading a lavish lifestyle."