LONDON -- Dogs trained to sniff out "dirty" cash being ferried around England by criminals are to be deployed on trains, police said Friday.
A crack 30-strong team of police pooches has been trained to smell the ink in banknotes and will sniff out large wads of cash concealed in bags or in the clothing of passengers arriving at rail stations in London.
The sniffer squad, trained to disregard smaller quantities of cash, is the latest weapon police and other officials are using to find criminals' cash; $1.3 million already has been intercepted.
It's part of a major operation -- code-named Payback -- involving Customs, the Metropolitan Police, City of London Police and British Transport Police.
The aim is to stop a flood of money being brought into London from other cities to be laundered or sent abroad through currency exchange bureaus.
''This is a new bid to disrupt and deter the cash couriers that we know use the railway system to bring criminal money into London," Customs Minister John Healey said.
''Criminal gangs are constantly changing their tactics, so customs and police must constantly change theirs.''
At the start of this year, customs officers were given new powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act to seize suspected criminal cash inland; previously they had only been allowed to seize suspect sums at ports and airports.
They also were given powers to target currency, checks, bankers' drafts and ****** orders suspected of being linked to any crime. In the past, they were limited to looking for suspected drug money.
The powers apply to suspicious cash sums worth more than $16,000, which can be held for 48 hours while customs officers investigate.
In the nine months since the powers came into force, customs and police have already seized the equivalent of $57 million.
The Proceeds of Crime Act also allows authorities to seize assets such as yachts, homes and cars without the suspect having been convicted of a criminal offense if they can prove on the ''balance of probability'' that the suspect is enjoying the proceeds of crime.
Recent seizures have included a million-dollar bankers' draft in London, and $160,000 found under the seat of a woman on a bus trip to Calais, France, and $960,000 recovered after two men were arrested in connection with drug offenses in London.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-dogs28.html
A crack 30-strong team of police pooches has been trained to smell the ink in banknotes and will sniff out large wads of cash concealed in bags or in the clothing of passengers arriving at rail stations in London.
The sniffer squad, trained to disregard smaller quantities of cash, is the latest weapon police and other officials are using to find criminals' cash; $1.3 million already has been intercepted.
It's part of a major operation -- code-named Payback -- involving Customs, the Metropolitan Police, City of London Police and British Transport Police.
The aim is to stop a flood of money being brought into London from other cities to be laundered or sent abroad through currency exchange bureaus.
''This is a new bid to disrupt and deter the cash couriers that we know use the railway system to bring criminal money into London," Customs Minister John Healey said.
''Criminal gangs are constantly changing their tactics, so customs and police must constantly change theirs.''
At the start of this year, customs officers were given new powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act to seize suspected criminal cash inland; previously they had only been allowed to seize suspect sums at ports and airports.
They also were given powers to target currency, checks, bankers' drafts and ****** orders suspected of being linked to any crime. In the past, they were limited to looking for suspected drug money.
The powers apply to suspicious cash sums worth more than $16,000, which can be held for 48 hours while customs officers investigate.
In the nine months since the powers came into force, customs and police have already seized the equivalent of $57 million.
The Proceeds of Crime Act also allows authorities to seize assets such as yachts, homes and cars without the suspect having been convicted of a criminal offense if they can prove on the ''balance of probability'' that the suspect is enjoying the proceeds of crime.
Recent seizures have included a million-dollar bankers' draft in London, and $160,000 found under the seat of a woman on a bus trip to Calais, France, and $960,000 recovered after two men were arrested in connection with drug offenses in London.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-dogs28.html
