Two members of a gang have been ordered to pay back more than £300,000 each after smuggling Class A drugs inside a shipment of raspberry sorbet.
William Morritt, 69, and John Madden, 51, moved 39kg of cocaine and 18kg of heroin from Belgium to England in 2017.
Police discovered the haul amongst 26 pallets of frozen raspberry yoghurt sorbet at a frozen food warehouse in Bilsthorpe, Nottinghamshire.
It was later revealed the pair made over £4.7 million from the operation.
The consignment had been collected from a factory in Wellens, Belgium, then driven to Hook of Holland, in the Netherlands, where it was shipped to the UK.
Border Force officers followed the lorry from the Port of Immingham, in Lincolnshire to the warehouse in Bilsthorpe, before returning four days later to search the grounds, at which point they uncovered the drugs.
The seizure was the biggest of its kind in Nottinghamshire for many years, said police.
After an investigation, a number of suspects were charged in connection with the smuggling operation.
Five people went on to be convicted of offences, including Madden and Morritt.
In 2023, Madden, of Kirkby, Knowsley, Merseyside, was jailed for 21 years after admitting conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class A drug.
Morritt, from Ashbourne, Derbyshire, the gang’s haulier, was jailed for 18 years after being found guilty of the same charge.
Earlier this month, on April 2, Morritt received a confiscation order demanding repayment of £367,301.91 at Leicester Crown Court.
The Proceeds of Crime hearing was told he had benefitted by £2,384,655.93 from his illegal actions.
Madden was ordered to repay £311,209.51 from a benefit total of £2,485,569.91.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Adas, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: ‘These orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act are another example of our determination to ensure offenders do not continue to benefit from a lifestyle fuelled by crime.
‘This detailed investigation, going back to 2017, led to the seizure of a very substantial haul of Class A drugs before they had the chance to cause significant damage.
‘Drugs fuel violent crime and other exploitative criminal activities and we will continue to work with our partners to protect our communities, combat such criminality, and bring those involved to justice.
‘We will continue to gather evidence and use the Proceeds of Crime Act legislation to investigate the funds of criminals and confiscate any assets or monies we believe they have accrued through their criminal activities.’
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