A BUSINESSMAN who was jailed for 11 years after setting up cannabis factories has been ordered to pay almost £2m.

Rukhsar Bashier, from Reading, received a confiscation order after he was caught by police and sentenced in 2008.

Bashier, 44, was originally asked to pay £2.79m for his crimes when he appeared at Teesside Crown Court nearly a decade ago, claiming he could only afford to pay £300,000.

He and three other men are believed to have made a total of £5.7m from the drug factories in Middlesbrough.

The courts monitored his income and found he was now the owner of several properties in Reading, as well as a number of vehicles.

With the value of his properties in Reading increasing significantly, the courts demanded that he pay £1.8m, or face a further prison sentence of 10 years.

Back at the same court almost a decade later, the prosecution argued that Bashier should be made to pay the money within three months.

Nick Price, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “This case shows that we will not stop in our efforts to confiscate money from criminals, even if many years have passed since they were convicted.

“The CPS applied for Bashier’s case to go back before the courts after discovering the large increase in his finances, arguing these assets, including the significant rise in the valuation of his properties, should be put towards repaying the money he made from his illegal drug operation.

“The proceeds of crime team successfully argued that Bashier’s assets should be confiscated and his default sentence should be increased if he fails to do so.”

The drug gang were jailed for more than 32 years between them in July 2008, with Bashier earning nearly £3m from his part in the operation.

Police raided several homes which were being used to house the cannabis crops and seized a total of 1,110 skunk plants.

The drug dens could have each yielded a turnover of more than £1m.