The leader of a drugs gang said to have caused "devastation and despair" as they peddled misery from safe houses set up in homes where children lived has been ordered to pay back thousands.
The network was run from Liverpool and sold heroin and crack cocaine to addicts across Cumbria as part of an illicit campaign that saw them exploit vulnerable families.
Tactics included using addicts' homes to store drugs and cuckooing - placing dealers in the houses of vulnerable people to work on the ground for gang leaders.
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Run from Merseyside, the plot was described as a County Lines operation - when drug dealers control sales in a different town or city through the use of mobile phones, safe houses and ruthless exploitation.
Thirteen people had admitted conspiracy to supply Class 'A' drugs, while three others were found guilty following a trial.
Ten from Cumbria were jailed, as were the plot leaders from Merseyside and Skelmersdale.
Roy Hickman, 35, of Churchdown Road, Dovecot controlled the operation.
In 2019, he received a prison sentence 14 years and five months along with fellow Liverpool gang member Thomas Wright, 25, of Harefield Road, Speke who received a 10-and-a-half year prison sentence.
This week, Hickman and Wright were slapped with confiscation orders by a judge as part of the Proceeds of Crime Act.
They must now hand over their illicit gains, or surrender those already seized.
Earlier, a prosecutor told a Proceeds of Crime Act application hearing the bulk of the benefit figures comprised the value of illegal drugs recovered by police during their investigation. This totalled around £259,000.
Financial investigators found Hickman benefited from his involvement to the tune of £265,616.68, he has been ordered to pay back £50,000 of his ill-gotten gains.
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Similarly, Wright was found to have benefited £260,516.78 from the plot and has been ordered to pay back £39,150.
In an earlier hearing on November 8, three key players in the plot from Skelmersdale were hit with similar confiscation orders.
James Bailey, 22, of Birkrig, Digmoor, Skelmersdale – who was jailed for nine years – was thought to have benefited £258,778.64.
Christopher Westwell, 25, of Round Hey, Stockbridge Village – jailed for nine years, nine months – benefited £268,947.52.
And Dylan Yates, 25, of Boode Croft, Stockbridge Village – jailed for 12-and-a-half years – benefited £261,159.84.
Bailey was found to have only have available assets of £387.60, which will now be seized.
Both Westwell and Yates were found to have assets of not much greater value, with the investigators ordering them to pay back £3158.87 and £2455.00 respectively.
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