A former New Covent Garden wholesaler turned drug smuggler who hid £5 million cocaine in consignments of watermelons and pomegranates has been ordered to pay back £400,000.
John Fowler, 61, used his wholesale business Fowler’s, based at the market, as a front for one of Europe’s largest drug smuggling rings, transporting Venezuelan cocaine from Greece to the UK.
He was jailed in 2014 for 16 years after being convicted at the Old Bailey. His accomplice Kevin Hanley was given 17 years, with his girlfriend Chrysi Minadaki, a well known TV presenter in Greece, given the same time.
Hanley was described as a 'top, top man' in the cocaine trade, while Minadaki organised the lorries and fresh produce deliveries as cover for the drug shipments, which were sent to Fowler’s Covent Garden business.
Fowler appeared at the Old Bailey last week for a confiscation hearing, where Judge Joseph ordered him to pay back £416,739 or face four more years in jail.
Fowler, who appeared in court via videolink from prison, is planning to sell a flat in Bermondsey to pay the debt. The judge also handed Fowler a serious crime prevention order giving police powers to monitor him on release.
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