Nearly £200,000 was seized from criminals in a forfeiture blitz at court yesterday.

Liverpool City Magistrates' Court ruled on a number of cases involving a total of £187,425.58 in cash, which was seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Detectives were led to the criminal assets in a variety of ways. In February, police saw a motorbike being driven erratically and failing to stop. It led them to a property in Kirkby, where they found a stash of drugs and cash. The drugs and cash were seized, with a total of £18,555 forfeited.

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During a Misuse of Drugs Act search of a house in Liverpool City Centre, police were able to seize £64,945 in cash. In January, police searched a property in Garston and found a large hoard of cash and Class A drugs. A total of £38,210 was forfeited.

The following month, police were searching a property in Kensington under a firearms warrant and found drugs and cash instead. A forfeiture order for £17,277.23 was granted by the court.

Detective Chief Inspector Mike Dalton of Merseyside Police said: “We know that even though the public are pleased when we put criminals behind bars they also feel justice is done when we seize the criminal assets that allow these people to fund a more extravagant lifestyle.

“Thanks to the painstaking work of our financial investigators a proportion of the money seized will be returned by the courts, through the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, to be invested back into community and crime prevention initiatives which are of benefit to all.

“In all of the above cases, as with the majority of our financial seizures, the individuals either did not attend the forfeiture hearing or did not contest the application.

“Merseyside Police pro-actively investigates serious organised crime including the ill-gotten gains of criminals and is relentless in its pursuit of offenders.

“If you have any information about money laundering or cash being stored in your community please contact police @MerPolCC, or call 101. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: Give information anonymously | Crimestoppers (crimestoppers-uk.org).”

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