A gangster who helped smuggle drugs and dirty cash across Europe has been ordered to hand over part of his ill-gotten empire - including his home and luxury watches. Former haulage boss Thomas Maher is currently serving 14 years in prison for using the EncroChat network to ferry drugs from Holland into the UK and Ireland.
The 42-year-old, from Warrington, was a vital “middle man” who picked locations for lorries to stop and make the drug handovers. He was originally arrested after 39 dead bodies of Vietnamese nationals were discovered in a lorry in Essex in October 2019, the Liverpool Echo reports.
The dad-of-three was once the owner of that HGV, which was still registered in his wife's name even after it was sold, but he was released with no further action taken in relation to the deaths. Just months later, National Crime Agency investigators swooped at his home in Wiltshire Close, Warrington, after experts smashed the encrypted EncroChat phone network.
He was arrested on June 13, 2020, after officers received intelligence that he planned to leave the country. Maher was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court in December 2020 after pleading guilty to importing class A drugs and money laundering.
The drug kingpin was back in the dock on Monday (May 22) where a judge ordered him to pay back £629,159.15, including his home in Warrington. The confiscation order also included cars, lorries, jewellery, a number of high value Rolex watches, artwork and gold ingots bought in Dubai.
Maher has three months to pay or faces an extra six years in jail. The NCA's Head of Asset Denial, Rob Burgess, said: "This significant result demonstrates the agency's ability to recover criminal assets, and prevent criminals from benefiting from their wrongdoing.
"Thomas Maher was a career criminal who was trusted by some of Europe's biggest crime groups to move their drugs and money. The confiscation order will ensure money he made will be returned to the public purse to fund further efforts to protect the public from organised crime."
It was previously that despite Maher and his wife being on less than minimum wage for tax purposes, they lived a luxurious lifestyle. Over the course of seven months, officers watched Maher meet with criminal associates at hotels and in public spaces in the North West to organise the trafficking of cocaine from the Netherlands to the UK and Ireland.
As well as drugs, Maher also helped to facilitate the movement of large sums of cash, charging a commission for his involvement.
The four conspiracies involving Maher took place between March and May 2020, the first three of those taking place within a fortnight, during which he organised the transportation of 21 kgs of cocaine and EUR300,000 of laundered money across Europe.
During the period of this investigation the common wholesale value of a kilo of unadulterated cocaine throughout the UK was within a range of £25,000 and £40,000 with the most common price in the region of £38,000.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
