The man who was jailed after officers found a block of cocaine at his property was forced by a court order to give up a total of £84,950.

East Anglian Daily Times: Jailed drug dealer Joe Lee, who forfeited £85,000 cash found at his home by police and was unable to account for where it came from.Jailed drug dealer Joe Lee, who forfeited £85,000 cash found at his home by police and was unable to account for where it came from. (Image: ESSEX POLICE)

Joe Lee, 29, of Cranham Road, Little Waltham, near Chelmsford, lost an appeal against an earlier ruling that he should lose the money found hidden at his home.

The money was recovered after officers from Essex Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit searched his caravan on Tuesday, March 27 of this year.

They unearthed a 1kg block of the illegal class A drug plus almost £85,000 in cash.

Officers found £31,520 hidden in a shed and £42,730 in a hole in the ground nearby.

A further £10,700 was seized at the same time from a car.

Lee was jailed for 56 months on April 26 at Chelmsford Crown Court after admitting possession of a class A drug with intent to supply.

Following his sentnecing, Lee, was ordered by Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on July 25 to forfeit the cash found at his home.

He appealed against the forfeiture order but this has now been rejected and the money has been confiscated.

DCI Lee Morton of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: “Lee could not come up with a plausible reason as to the origins of so much cash.

“We believe it was ill-gotten and the proceeds of criminality.

‘It is so important that we target those who profit from criminality.

“The money is usually linked to crimes such as drug-dealing that cause misery in our communities.”