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Jailed haulage boss must pay £45,000 from drug profits
Page 16
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Any future assets of operator John Pickering who was jailed for drug
dealing in March, will be seized. cliff Goodwin reports.
A HAULAGE boss serving eight years for drug dealing has been ordered to pay £45,000 from his illegal profits.
John Pickering was jailed in March after police found more than £100,000 worth of cocaine and other drugs in the office of his Tyne and Wear transport business (CM 22 March).
A kilogramme of amphetamine powder and 2,000 amphetamine tablets were also discovered at Pickering's home in Winlaton,near Gateshead.
Appearing at Newcastle Crown Court. the haulier admitted six charges of possessing cocaine with intent to supply. He claimed he was storing the amphetamines for someone he would not name.
Returning to the same court from prison for a confiscation hearing on Friday 3 August, Pickering was informed that financial investigators estimated he had benefited by £45,000 from his illegal activities.
"Pickering will now owe this money for the rest of his life." said Detective Constable Andy Lee, a financial investigator with Northumbria Police. "Any future assets he acquires will be seized until the £45,000 is paid in full."
Released from prison in 2002 following a previous drug-dealing offence. Pickering launched J&J Haulage at High Spen near Gateshead with one vehicle. When business boomed he began taking cocaine to ease the pressure of managing his 10-truck fleet.
At the height of his addiction he was spending £2,000 a week on drugs and bought a Range Rover and a Mercedes. He began dealing again to maintain his lifestyle.
He was caught as part of Northumbria Police's Operation Avalanche which targeted drug dealers on Gateshead housing estates.
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