The boss of a travel agency who potted more than £1m by dealing in drugs will only have to pay back £56,000.

Police discovered more than four kilos of cocaine worth more than £500,000 on the streets after swooping on three properties linked to the 46-year-old from Chatham and in his Mini car.

Neil Wheatley, director at Kent-based First and Business Class Travel, was said to be 'hands-on' in running a commercial drugs operation based at his office and 'close to the original source'.

Wheatley, himself a cocaine addict, was said to have made £1,073,138 from buying and selling drugs, and later received an eight-year jail sentence after admitting supplying cocaine and money laundering.

But during confiscation proceedings at Maidstone Crown Court he was ordered to repay just £56,610.

Judge Tony Baumgartner was told the figure, representing a little over 5% of his ill-gotten gains, was the amount available for the court to seize.

Wheatley, who appeared in court via a TV link with HMP Elmley in Sheppey was therefore ordered to pay the money within three months, or serve another 12 months' imprisonment in default.

The stash of high purity cocaine was found behind an air vent at his office in Rochester in his Mini's passenger airbag space and inside a 'Dad' trophy in his bedroom.

Police found drugs in the walls

Police also discovered cash totalling £46,610 and plastic drugs packaging bearing a Shrek logo.

When officers arrived at his home in Tuscan Drive, Lordswood, on December 14 last year, a 'clear-up' operation was in place, the court heard during his sentencing hearing in March.

His stepdaughter's Louis Vuitton handbag and a DKNY bag in the living room both contained large amounts of money, while a rubbish sack being loaded into a car contained various drugs paraphernalia.

White powder residue was also discovered on numerous items, including the trophy in Wheatley's master bedroom.

Prosecutor Tom Dunn said the searches revealed just 'a snapshot' of the operation, and it was believed a further six kilos of cocaine 'passed through' Wheatley's hands.

"This was a leading role and the police drugs expert concluded it was buying and selling on a commercial scale," he added.

Mr Dunn also told the court that although the travel agency was a legitimate business, set up by Wheatley and two partners, it was used by him as 'a drugs operation base'.

He resigned as a director four days after his arrest.

He was said to have started supplying drugs after his own recreational, six-year habit spiralled out of control following a friend's death.

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