Over £1.5m recovered by GMP in September from criminal activity

Photo: Greater Manchester Police

The money comes from a wide range of criminal activity

Over £1.5 million has been recovered from criminal activity across Greater Manchester in the last month.

Greater Manchester Police recovered the massive sum in September after a number of successful court applications to seize the cash and assets discovered by the force.

The money – which comes from a range of criminal activity from low level drug dealing to large-scale organised crime – will be re-invested back into policing as well as local community projects.

For the courts to grant an application, GMP has to prove on a balance of probability that the cash/assets discovered were obtained from crime, or were intended to be used in crime.

Detective Sergeant Sarah Langley, of GMP’s Asset Detention and Recovery Unit, said: "This is a massive sum that has been recovered by our team.

“The money comes from a wide range of criminal activity all the way through from the smaller amounts of cash we retrieve from low level drug dealing, right up to the large-scale organised crime groups operating in Greater Manchester.

"Our team uses a variety of options available to us from the Proceeds of Crime Act, including cash seizure powers, listed asset powers – such as seizing high value jewellery, watches and artwork – and bank account freezing orders.

"In the last month, we have submitted numerous applications to be able to seize the money and assets that we've discovered and thankfully they were all successfully granted.”

She added: "Seizing such a huge amount of money from criminals will have a substantial impact on those communities where the effect of such criminality blights the lives of local people.

“The money seized is more than often linked to drugs and gang related activity, so removing the funds available to these gangs will prevent them from engaging in further illicit activity and disrupt their criminal networks."