A DRUGS gang kingpin who went on the run to South America and Spain before being tracked down and jailed for more than eight years has been ordered to pay the grand sum of £1 by a Proceeds of Crime Hearing.

Paul Harris, also known as Boehm, oversaw a drug operation worth more than £2m that flooded the Forest of Dean, south Monmouthshire and Newport with cocaine and ketamine trafficked in from Spain.

The 28-year-old from Cinderford was on the run for four years and was one of Wales' most wanted criminals before being arrested in Spain and brought back to face justice in July.

The nine-strong organised crime gang are now serving a total of nearly 50 years following a successful Gwent Police operation that began with the raid of a property in Chepstow in early 2021m when 28g of cocaine was found alongside mobile phones with drug dealing messages linking Harris and his fellow gang members, including his mother Helga Boehm and stepfather Andrew Harris.

Paul Harris continued to run the operation from Spain, and later went on the run to Venezuela and Columbia.

Newport Crown Court heard that a car stop where class A drugs worth some £30,000 were found provided more mobile phone evidence linking Harris to large scale drug trafficking.

Finally brought back to the UK this year, he admitted conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs when he appeared in court two months ago.

Jailing him then for a total of eight years and eight months, Judge Lucy Crowther said: "You were close to the original source and involved in the buying and selling on a commercial scale and had expectation of financial advantage on a substantial scale."

Harris' criminal gain was put at £115,000, but like the rest of the gang he was ordered to pay peanuts, owing to having no assets.

His stepfather Andrew Harris of Cinderford was billed £79,944, but only a fraction of the £500,000 he was estimated to have received.

A Gwent Police spokesperson previously said: “Between February and October 2021, we carried out enforcement activities throughout the south of Monmouthshire which led to the seizure of drugs, cash and mobile phones.

“The phones seized not only showed their owners’ significant involvement in the supply of drugs, it also showed all those who worked with them.

“Over the two-year long investigation, we carried out eight warrants and more than £50,000 worth of class A and B drugs were seized, along with over £40,000 of cash.

"In one warrant alone, £38,000 was found in a money safe disguised as a book.”

Detective Chief Inspector Steven Thomas added last year: "We have successfully dismantled a major drugs gang who are now behind bars for their parts in peddling misery across South Wales and Gloucestershire.

“These men and women were not simply dealing drugs to feed their own addiction, they had made the decision to become involved in the supply of large quantities of harmful drugs to make money for themselves at the expense of others."