A man from Ilford who collected “drugs” cash for criminal networks has been ordered to pay back almost £800,000.

Lee Ray Smith, of Longwood Gardens, was stopped while driving a van on the A13 in May 2020.

He claimed that he had hired the van to carry out a new delivery job.

The vehicle was searched and officers found two bags containing cash counting machines as well as bundles of cash in a rear compartment.

The bundles of cash were wrapped in cling film and labelled with ‘100k’ or ‘70k’.

Officers also located an encrypted phone which was later found to have been used in drug supply.

Enquiries revealed that Lee Ray Smith had the role of collecting cash for criminal networks.

After being arrested, he was charged with two counts of transferring criminal property.

After pleading guilty, he received a suspended sentence on August 24 last year.

At a confiscation hearing at Basildon Crown Court last Wednesday (July 24), it was determined that Smith’s criminal benefit was £939,917.04.

He was ordered to pay back £791,214.90, his available assets by the August 28 or face five years in prison.