CONFISCATION hearings have concluded to deprive members of a “significant” drug-dealing operation of cars and money.

It followed a police swoop to stop a vehicle and search addresses shortly after a transaction was completed between courier John Flynn on delivery of a consignment of drugs to local dealer Wayne Robson, in Ludworth, near Durham, on September 21 last year.

Flynn’s Volkswagen Passat was pulled over on the A688, at Byer’s Garth, at nearby Coxhoe, as he set off to make his back to his native North-West.

Examination of the car revealed a compartment containing a hold-all in which there was £40,880, in £50, £20 and £10 notes, which were seized.

Subsequent searches were made at the home of Robson’s uncle, Peter Samuel Davies, in Ludworth, and at a family caravan, at the Crimdon Dene site, on the County Durham coast.

Police recovered 380 9oz bars of cannabis plus a total of 5kg of cocaine, some of which was in the process of being cut at the time of the raid at the caravan.

The estimated potential value of the drugs in street sale terms was put at £769,694.

Robson, 41, of Moor Crescent, and 65-year-old Davies, of Barnard Avenue, both Ludworth, each admitted conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs, and were jailed for seven and five years, respectively, at Durham Crown Court in January.

Flynn, 45, of Hesketh Bank, Preston, who was said to have been paid £100 to make the drug delivery, admitted transferring criminal property and was jailed for 18 months.

Proceeds of crime inquiries have followed since the trio were jailed and, in subsequent hearings, various confiscation and deprivation orders have been made.

Three cars, a Citroen Xsara, a Mercedes and a Volkswagen Golf, seized from Robson, have since been sold by police, which, along with £615 in cash recovered from him, have yielded a total of £14,953.

The £40,880 recovered from Flynn’s VW Passat, along with the vehicle itself, worth an estimated £2,000, were forfeited by court order.

In the final hearing at the court, today (Wednesday September 4), an order was made for the forfeit of £640 from Davies.

The money raised via the confiscation proceedings will be split between Durham Police and the Home Office, to assist, “in the fight against crime”.