ILL-GOTTEN gains banked by drugs baron PJ Maguire could soon be seized.
Maguire, 41, of Thomas Stock Gardens in Abbeymead, was sent down for seven-and-a-half years on Friday for masterminding a £200,000 cocaine ring.
And, if police get their way, he will not be returning to the lifestyle he has become accustomed to after his sentence is complete.
Officers have confirmed they will pursue court orders to seize Maguire's cash assets. Detective Superintendent Marc Flannery said: "We will be seeking to recoup money or assets acquired by PJ Maguire and his associates as part of their criminal lifestyle under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
"Work is underway now between officers involved in the case and a financial investigator to gauge the level of the offenders' assets so that the information can be brought before the judge at a Proceeds of Crime hearing in November.
"We will also be seeking a Serious Crime Prevention Order, which is part of relatively new legislation making it more difficult for serious offenders to pursue the same unlawful interests they had before conviction.
"This could mean restrictions and prohibitions on financial, property and business dealings, working arrangements, means of communicating and travel."
Maguire was among six defendants, three from Gloucester and the others from Cheltenham, Birmingham and Worcester, jailed for their part in the drugs conspiracy. He was the ringleader of a sophisticated cocaine supply network bringing drugs to Gloucester for distribution.
Meanwhile, friends and family of Maguire have taken to Facebook to defend him and his gang members.
Posting comments on Gloucestershire police's own page, Joanne Maguire, wife of PJ's brother Christopher, who was also jailed for his role in the plot, said: "Will hold my head high no matter what people have to say about my husband."
