HM CUSTOMS AND EXCISE: THE SEIZURE OF DRUG TRAFFICKERS'
ASSETS
| THE FORFEITURE OF CASH
|
| |
C&AG's Report, para 4.3 and Figure 6
Qs 11, 90
| 27. From September 1991 to March 1996 the Department had detected a total of some £67.1 million potentially suspect cash of which £7.1 million had been forfeited to the Crown. The Department told our predecessors that this was a relatively new area of work which had already shown some significant achievements. They said that the difference between the value of potentially suspect cash and the amounts forfeited arose because, in many cases, passengers had reasonable explanations for why they were carrying substantial amounts and there were no grounds for seizing the cash. In other cases, although explanations were not immediately available, further research was unable to establish a reasonable suspicion of a connection with drug trafficking. Comparing the total value of potentially suspect cash with total sums forfeited was not therefore a particularly helpful measure of performance. Amounts for which satisfactory explanations were immediately available should be discounted. A better indication of performance could be obtained from considering the extent to which cases of seizure and investigation led to forfeiture. As at March 1997, the value of cash which had been forfeited had increased to £7.6 million, and the value of cash which had been seized and was under investigation was £8.8 million.
|
| |
Qs 24 to 26
Q 90
| 28. Our predecessors asked the Department whether they relied on intelligence to detect cash in transit. The Department told them that their officers used their judgement, co-operated closely with the police, and obtained intelligence from various sources. As electronic transfers were increasingly open to detection, smugglers found cash movements an easier method of transferring assets. The Department said that they had accepted the National Audit Office recommendation that their overall structured risk testing model should be used to obtain a clearer appreciation of the size and location of the risk, and to allocate resources accordingly.
|
| |
| Conclusion |
| |
| 29. We are concerned that in the first 4½ years of the legislation, the Department have only succeeded in achieving the forfeiture of some £8 million of cash. We note that greater detection of electronic transfers may be leading drug smugglers to make greater use of cash, and urge the Department to increase their efforts to disrupt the drug trade through increased forfeitures of cash.
|
| |
|
|
