Around £100,000 in cash has been found in a supermarket bag for life in a crackdown on money laundering.
Cops made the discovery in Oldham in an overnight operation last night. Police stopped a vehicle in the town at 11.30pm on Monday (July 11) under Operation Falcon — GMP’s crackdown on money laundering and organised crime in the region.
Following the find, a 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of money laundering by GMP’s Money Laundering Team and Specialist Operations. The car was searched and around £100,000 was found and seized in a bag as part of the laundering team's Operation Falcon which only launched around a month ago.
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Detective Chief Inspector Joseph Harrop, from GMP’s Economic Crime Team, said: “Fraud, cyber-crime and money laundering is not only rising in Greater Manchester but all across the UK, which is why we’re continuing to grow the department that tackles these issues.
“This seizure is another positive result for the Money Laundering Team who despite being set up less than 12 months ago, have already seized thousands of pounds of suspected ill-gotten gains. Cash-based money laundering costs the UK economy billions of pounds and is illicit cash which often serves as the motivator for serious and organised crime.
“Operation Falcon will continue and we’ll be carrying on with targeting those suspected to be involved in money laundering and aim to seize their assets and cash so they can be reinvested into the communities who need it. No matter how hard attempts are made to hide the money through front businesses, we will find it, forfeit it, and reinvest it back into the community of Greater Manchester.”
Police say the operation’s aim is to identify those involved in money laundering in a bid to disrupt wider organised crime across Greater Manchester. Since its inception, four arrests have already been made and over £320,000 so far has been seized.
Around £202,000 of that has already been sent to the Home Office, with 50% returned to GMP which will then be used for policing projects, local charities and community initiatives such as Get Away 'N' Get Safe Gangs Prevention Programme, Oldham mountain rescue, Wigan youth zone and 84Youth - a Manchester initiative that helps address youth violence.
Anyone with information about suspicious financial activity can report it to us online through our online crime reporting form, or by calling 101. You can also report via our Live Chat service on our website: www.gmp.police.uk . Details can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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