Drug supplier ordered to pay back almost £2m

A man has been ordered to pay back almost £2m from money he gained from his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy.

Richard Batty, 39, from Church Lane, Withernwick in East Yorkshire, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the conspiracy to supply class A drugs in June 2023.

A confiscation hearing held at Hull Crown Court on 28 November found that Mr Batty had netted about £1.9m as a result of the criminal activity.

He has been ordered to pay back approximately £375,000 through assets owned. The outstanding amount from the £1.9m will remain as a lifetime debt.

Mr Batty was initially arrested in August 2020 as part of a National Crime Agency investigation named Operation Venetic - an international operation targeting organised crime groups.

He was involved in conversations about receiving shipments of drugs between April and August 2020, with one delivery taking place in June 2020.

On that occasion, 41kg (90.3lbs) of cocaine, worth about £4.1m, were brought into the force area.

Mr Batty was sent photos of five 1kg (2.2lbs) blocks of cocaine, branded with the designer labels Prada and GVY and with a price of £37,500 offered.

They were later seized during an interception on the M62 and a 10-tonne hydraulic press, used for pressing cocaine, was seized during a search of his address.

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