Five gold bars valued at a staggering £1.8m were found inside the bag at the airport last year.
From: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Police made an unbelievable find inside a hand luggage bag at Manchester Airport as a passenger prepared to fly abroad. Officers working in the airport stopped a man in May last year as his 15kg allowance was over.
Inside the bag, they found five gold bars which had been stashed inside hand luggage. These were seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act, as officers believed the gold was part of suspected criminality.
Following an investigation by officers in the Economic and Cyber Crime Unit, the case was heard at Manchester Magistrates' Court on February 19. The court granted a forfeiture order in favour of GMP, the largest totalling £1.81m for the value of the gold bars.
Half of the proceeds are now set to be utilised for our ARIS fund. The Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme. It allows the force to reinvest money recovered from criminal activity back into local communities. It is the highest-value listed assets forfeiture order ever awarded to GMP.
No further details about the investigation was released. The civil recovery investigation, allowing authorities to seize assets suspected of being derived from unlawful conduct without requiring a criminal conviction, has now concluded.
Detective Inspector Sarah Langley, from GMP's Economic Crime Unit, said: “This case reflects our unwavering commitment to tackling all forms of money laundering — whether it involves cash, gold, or any other high value assets used to hide criminal profits.
“Criminals continuously adapt their methods, and so must we. By targeting the movement of illicit wealth at every stage, we are dismantling the financial networks that allow organised crime to thrive.
“Our message is clear: whatever the form and wherever it is concealed, we will find it, we will seize it, and we will ensure that crime does not pay.”
From: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Police made an unbelievable find inside a hand luggage bag at Manchester Airport as a passenger prepared to fly abroad. Officers working in the airport stopped a man in May last year as his 15kg allowance was over.
Inside the bag, they found five gold bars which had been stashed inside hand luggage. These were seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act, as officers believed the gold was part of suspected criminality.
Following an investigation by officers in the Economic and Cyber Crime Unit, the case was heard at Manchester Magistrates' Court on February 19. The court granted a forfeiture order in favour of GMP, the largest totalling £1.81m for the value of the gold bars.
Half of the proceeds are now set to be utilised for our ARIS fund. The Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme. It allows the force to reinvest money recovered from criminal activity back into local communities. It is the highest-value listed assets forfeiture order ever awarded to GMP.
No further details about the investigation was released. The civil recovery investigation, allowing authorities to seize assets suspected of being derived from unlawful conduct without requiring a criminal conviction, has now concluded.
Detective Inspector Sarah Langley, from GMP's Economic Crime Unit, said: “This case reflects our unwavering commitment to tackling all forms of money laundering — whether it involves cash, gold, or any other high value assets used to hide criminal profits.
“Criminals continuously adapt their methods, and so must we. By targeting the movement of illicit wealth at every stage, we are dismantling the financial networks that allow organised crime to thrive.
“Our message is clear: whatever the form and wherever it is concealed, we will find it, we will seize it, and we will ensure that crime does not pay.”