Convicted drug dealer John Gilligan has been forced to hand over nearly €500,000 to British authorities.
The UK's Revenue and Customs seized IR£296,000 hidden in a suitcase as Gilligan (55) boarded a plane for Amsterdam in London's Heathrow airport in October 1996.
Officials finally secured the seizure at Uxbridge Magistrates Court, London, today, With nearly eight years interest, the money is now worth around €500,000.
Gilligan was arrested at Heathrow and later charged with money laundering, but as he awaited trial an extradition request was made and he was returned to Ireland.
He was jailed for 28 years for importing cannabis by the non-jury Special Criminal Court in 2001. He was found not guilty of the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin.
Gilligan is battling to stop the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) from confiscating property belonging to him worth an estimated €17 million.
When it was first seized in 1997, the Jessbrook Equestrian Centre and its 100 acres at Mucklon, three miles from Enfield, was valued at €4 million. Other property and money has also been seized by CAB.
Gilligan has already been refused legal aid for the constitutional challenge to the law, which allows the freezing of assets believed to have been paid for by crime.
The law he is trying to challenge - the Proceeds Against Crime Act - was brought in shortly after the death of Veronica Guerin, who was shot dead in 1996.