Drug trafficker who helped import cannabis in flower boxes must pay back £4.7 million

Johannes Elmendorp is currently serving an 18-year prison sentence, but faces an extra five years if he does not repay the money within six months

Smuggled: Elmendorp was part of an operation that imported £150 million of cannabis

A man who was part of an multi-million pound operation to smuggle skunk cannabis into the UK inside boxes of fresh flowers has been told he must pay back £4.7 million.

Johannes Elmendorp, 52, is currently serving an 18-year prison sentence for organising the UK side of a conspiracy to import an estimated £150 million worth of cannabis into the UK from Holland between 2008 and 2009.

But he has now been told that he must pay back £4.7 million within six months, or face another five years on his prison sentence.

Elmendorp's operation involved using legitimate haulage companies which other members of the gang used to co-ordinate the transportation of flower boxes from the Netherlands to Leeds.

The drugs would be stored at a rented unit in Morley, with shipments destined for Leeds, Bradford, Redditch and Birmingham.

They were caught after an investigation involving West Yorkshire and West Mercia Police, as well as the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, Dutch and German authorities, which took them from the UK to Ireland, Holland, France, Germany, Italy and the Ukraine.

Financial investigation manager David Charity, from West Yorkshire Police's Economic Crime Unit, said: "This has been a protracted and arduous investigation, Elmendorp moved around numerous European countries in his efforts to frustrate law enforcement. 

"Whilst the law abiding public are struggling to make ends meet in these difficult times, Elmendorp has made millions from importing controlled drugs into our area.

"This confiscation order continues to show that West Yorkshire Police is dedicated to protecting the public by tackling serious and organised crime and making criminals pay."


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