Drug gang ordered to repay more than £300,000 after Essex cocaine conspiracy
Court demands seized assets be sold to repay criminal earnings from cocaine supply
Members of a former drugs gang have been ordered by the court to repay a total of more than £300,000 from their criminal earnings following a Proceeds of Crime hearing at Basildon Crown Court on 16th January 2026.
The gang was dismantled after coordinated raids in February 2022 revealed an extensive south Essex cocaine supply operation. Cash and assets worth thousands of pounds were seized, including £19,000 hidden in concrete and a further £82,000 from additional searches conducted in one day.
Jimmy Heary, now 61, of Oak Road in Crays Hill, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply cocaine, has been ordered to pay £294,283.78 within three months or face an additional three years in prison. He is already serving a four-and-a-half-year sentence handed down in 2023.
Mastermind Connall Regan, now 31, who was already in prison during the raids and received an eight-and-a-half-year sentence for conspiracy, has been ordered to return £20,126.04 over the same timeframe or serve a further nine months behind bars. Sheralee Heary, now 55, jailed for five years on similar charges alongside unauthorised use of trademarks, faces repayment of £9,553.51 or six weeks in prison. Nicholas Axford, now 39, of Canvey Island, ordered to pay £4,491.64, faces the same prison term for non-payment.
Both the payments and potential additional sentences must be fulfilled within three months of the hearing, or the convicts will remain liable for their debts. Representatives highlighted that properties, vehicles, jewellery, and frozen accounts would be used to pay off the orders against them.
The Proceeds of Crime hearing also revealed that the gang is believed to have amassed more than £1.8m in criminal earnings. Financial Investigator Marie Hall said the confiscation orders will help fund further law enforcement work and charitable causes via the Essex Community Foundation.
“This is the work we do to ensure criminals pay for the harm they’ve caused,” Hall said.
“The Proceeds of Crime Act was brought in for specifically these cases – to break the cycle of criminality that these funds could continue, to take drugs off our streets and bring down crime in our communities,” she added.