East Scotland police seize £7 million in raids

By Gareth Rose
Published on 15/03/2013 11:00

POLICE have seized more than £7 million worth of criminal assets in Lothian and Borders, Fife and Central Scotland.

Officers taking part in the Made From Crime initiative, where the public was urged to shop suspiciously wealthy neighbours, also found £316,000 worth of drugs during raids.

And they confiscated more £225,000 in cash and £25,440 in stolen or counterfeit goods, in one of the largest operations ever undertaken in Scotland.

Two vehicles were also seized.

The £7m assets is property police believe was bought through the proceeds of crime.

They will seek to permanently confiscate them through the courts.

Raids took place from 7am on Wednesday to 7am on today.

Detective Superintendent David Gordon, head of serious and organised crime for the new specialist crime division in the East of Scotland, said: “This campaign was deliberately designed to be ambitious and tenacious and target criminals who believed they could live lavish lifestyles from the proceeds of crime.

“The response we had from local communities throughout the intelligence gathering phase was fantastic, and showed that they were not prepared to tolerate criminality in their area.

“The months of planning for the enforcement phase have paid off throughout the past few days, and we are delighted with the results, which is a fantastic start for the new specialist crime division.”