A DRUG dealer who is already serving a four-year prison sentence has been ordered to pay back almost £50,000 he made illegally.

Financial investigators found Dwaine Butcher had profited by £45,235 from his crimes, after looking into his assets and savings.

The team found the 26-year-old had a Rolex watch valued at £22,500 and £22,735 in cash, which Lewes Crown Court deemed on April 8 that he must pay back.

Butcher, who had been arrested in October 2018, during a Sussex Police day of action on county lines at an address in Preston Park Avenue, Brighton, was given a Confiscation Order under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

It required him to pay £45,235 within three months or face a further 21-month prison sentence and still have to pay the full amount.

Butcher had been sentenced on July 21 2020 at Lewes Crown Court to 52 months' imprisonment, having pleaded guilty to possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply.

Detective inspector Mark O'Brien of the force's economic crime unit said: "These orders come from the continued hard work by our officers, in particular our expert financial investigators.

"Wherever possible we now target not just the criminals but also the profits of their crimes, whether they are from drug dealing or any other form of criminal activity.

"It can take time and each investigation results in an application for a court-authorised confiscation order."

The Argus: Dwaine Butcher was ordered to repay the moneyDwaine Butcher was ordered to repay the money

It comes as the force successfully applied to courts during the 2019/20 financial year for 228 confiscation orders following criminal convictions - valued at £1,829 million.

Over the same period the force also obtained 41 civil forfeiture orders valued at £259,000 following cash seizures from suspected offenders, and orders valued at over £418,000 for compensation to individual victims.

According to the force, figures for 2020/21, currently being collated, are expected to exceed those totals.

Any funds obtained through POCA confiscation or cash forfeiture orders go to the central government exchequer.

However, Sussex Police receive 50 per cent cash back from cash forfeitures and 18.75 per cent cash back from seized confiscation orders.