A man from Watford has been ordered to pay back hundreds of thousands of pounds following a Hertfordshire drugs ring bust.

Four men will have to return more than £425k between them after they were part of an organised crime group supplying cocaine in St Albans and surrounding areas.

They were jailed in 2019, after which an investigation was launched by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) to ensure they were unable to financially benefit.

Dean Dias, 36, originally from Watford, who is serving a jail sentence of 10 years and four months, has been ordered to pay back £329,900.

If he fails to repay the money in the next three months he will face an additional four years in prison.

Financial investigation manager Ruth Mumford said: “Drug dealing has far reaching consequence throughout our communities, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure those involved do not profit from this harm.”

Ciaran Kenna, 38, originally from Amersham, was ordered to pay back £40,140. He is currently serving an eight-and-a-half year jail sentence and will face a further year in jail if he does not repay the money in the next three months.

Ashley Haw, 33, also originally from Amersham, previously jailed for four-and-a-half years, has been ordered to pay back almost £30,000 or face an additional one year in prison.

William Roberts, 33, originally from Woodford Green, was previously jailed for nine years. He has been ordered to pay back £26,490.

A further member of this crime group still has his confiscation proceedings outstanding, which will be resolved at a later date.

Ms Mumford added: "This case once more demonstrates that our specialist financial investigators will continue to use POCA powers at every opportunity, in order to strip the assets from those who seek to benefit from illegal activities."