A SANDWELL drug dealer has been ordered to pay back nearly £35,000 − after police cashed-in a confiscation order secured against him more than 10 years ago.

Antonio Christie was jailed for nine years in 2006 for drug trafficking and, as part of his sentence, an order was imposed empowering police to seize tens of thousands of pounds he’d made through peddling cocaine and heroin.

The 38-year-old paid a nominal £1 sum at the time after he was found to have no known assets − but the order hung over him for investigators to revisit should the crook come into any future cash.

Last year, Christie was awarded £150,000 damages by Staffordshire Police in connection with his conviction and imprisonment for a murder case later deemed unsafe.

An officer from the West Midlands Asset Confiscation Enforcement team (ACE) has now seized £34,792 of that money which will be used in order to pay back his confiscation order debt.

Detective Inspector Jonathan Jones from Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: “Confiscation orders don’t get written off and stay with the person until they are paid. As this case shows, it doesn’t matter how long ago you committed your crime - if you benefitted from it then and we suspect you now have the means to pay your debt, then we will come after you.

“We hope this sends a strong message that crime doesn’t pay. No-one is above the law and the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit will pursue those who seek to profit out of criminality."

The money recovered will go to the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Active Citizens Fund: it sees ill-gotten gains stripped from criminals and then used for good causes and local projects that benefit communities.