Four criminals involved in a £1m plot to flood Cumbria's streets with illicit drugs have been stripped of their profits.

Despite three of those involved personally raking in hundreds of thousands of pounds from the operation, police have been able to reclaim less than £10,000 from them, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

But police are delighted with the judge's Proceeds of Crime orders.

They say they give the Cumbrian force authority to seize cash from the criminals in the future should any defendant – including the plot's 25-year-old mastermind Patrick White - ever come into money.

Officers are now preparing similar cases against some of the 12 other criminals prosecuted for their involvement.

They include high-level dealers Aaron Giacopazzi, 29, of St Elizabeths Close, Carlisle, jailed for six years for conspiracy to supply cocaine; Jason Farmer, 27, of Gilsland Road, Carlisle, sentenced to six years for conspiracy to supply cocaine; and 23-year-old Jake Barnes , Greta Avenue, Carlisle, also given six years for conspiracy to supply cocaine

Kingpin White, who spent much of his childhood in Egremont in west Cumbria, used illegally-held mobile phones to run the drugs operation from his cell at Risley Prison in Cheshire.

His conspiracy aimed to flood Cumbria with drugs such as cocaine, MCat, and cannabis as White's network of contacts – including a Workington man and six people from Carlisle – brought in drugs by rail and road.

At the city's crown court, Judge Peter Hughes ruled that White's criminal benefit from the plot had amounted to £218,261, which represents the “wholesale” and not the street value of the drugs.

Yet his only traceable assets were worth £4,950, the court was told.

His girlfriend, 26-year-old Amanda Ashley, from Stockport, was judged to have also benefited from the conspiracy by £218,261, yet the only assets that could be traced for her amounted to £2,500.

Another co-defendant, 30-year-old Mark Bostock, also from Stockport, benefited to the tune of £195,190 – but his traceable assets were a measly £1.

A fourth defendant, Jordan Graham, 29, of Church Street, Barrow, raked in £19,615 as a result of the plot. His assets were just £2,100.

White, who admitted conspiring to supply cocaine, Mcat and cannabis, is currently serving 13 years for his part in the plot, while Ashley was convicted of conspiring to supply cocaine and given seven years.

Cumbria Police smashed the seven-month old supply ring after intercepting couriers as they brought their deadly drugs cargo into north, west and south Cumbria.

Prosecutor Brendan Burke had outlined how the operation was orchestrated by White, despite him being a serving prisoner.

Operating secretly from his prison cell, White used illegally-held mobile phones to organise his contacts, arranging Cumbrian drug deliveries.

His criminal workload - including managing his Cumbria contacts – was such that he told police his arrest was a relief.

The court ultimately dealt with 16 criminals who were involved, handing down sentences totaling nearly 100 years. Police are also now pursuing the criminal profits of a further six of the criminals convicted for their part in the drugs operation.

Cases are also being brought against Robert Rawlinson, 28, of Earle Street, Barrow; and Kieron Fleming, 23, of Low White Close, Barrow, who was arrested after his car was stopped on the M6 and John Lawrence, 31, from St Helens, who was jailed for six years for conspiracy to supply Mcat.

Those hearings will be at Carlisle Crown Court on December 22.

A Cumbria Police spokesman said: “The Proceeds of Crime Act is a good piece of law.

"There's a lot of work involved, looking at people's bank accounts and assets. But if these people can't pay anything now we can always look at them again in the future.”