Drug-dealing brothers who were jailed for their roles in a £1.2m cocaine heist from rival criminals have been ordered by a judge to payback more than £80,000 or face more prison time.
Jason Cox and his younger brother, Craig, were jailed in August, 2023, after a raid at a house controlled by a notorious Merseyside-based drugs gang.
The Cox brothers, from Salford, and accomplices, stormed the stash house on a Saturday morning in May, 2020 – the early days of the Covid lockdown.
A father and son inside were slashed and attacked with an axe and a machete before the gang fled with about 30 kilos of cocaine, Manchester Crown Court was told. One man, now also convicted, posed as a delivery driver.
Jason Cox, 38, was sentenced to 14 years and eight months in prison. Craig Cox, 35, got 13 years and six months, reduced to 11 years on appeal. They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob; conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis and conspiracy to possess criminal property.
Their older brother Lee Cox, 41, who did not take part in the raid, was jailed for eight years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis and conspiracy to possess criminal property.
The Crown Prosecution Service said all three were taken back to Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday for a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
A judge imposed a confiscation order of £40,346 on Jason Cox and an order totalling £40,480 on Craig Cox – totalling £80,826.
The total sum Lee Cox will have to repay was set at £40,000.
All three were told by a judge they face spending nine more months behind bars unless they repay the money within a set period of time, the CPS said.
In a statement, the CPS said: “The Cox organised crime family supplied cocaine and cannabis to distributors and dealers throughout the North West of England, who would sell it to drug users. The robbery was just one part of their offending.
“Jason and Lee Cox fled to the Spain and were extradited back to the UK in 2021. All three were taken back to court by the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division. If the confiscation order is not paid on time, they each face nine months in prison.”
The CPS said another confiscation hearing would take place later this month at Manchester Crown Court for four other men.
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Luke Clements, Specialist Prosecutor from the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division, said: “We will robustly pursue the proceeds of crime, where we identify available assets, to take the profit out of organised crime.
“All three offenders were given lengthy prison sentences and risk having time added to their original sentence if they do not pay back the amount that they have available to pay their orders. If we find more assets in the future, the CPS can take them back to court for an increased confiscation order to be made against them.”
Figures show that in the last five years, £450m has been recovered from confiscation orders obtained by the CPS. Debts under the Proceeds of Crime Act continue to be in force until they are paid.
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