Over £145,000 has been permanently seized from a convicted drug dealer after police found the cash in his house.
In June 2021, Gary Dolan, 34, was jailed for four years and eight months as part of an operation to target a notorious drugs gang in Luton.
Dolan, originally of Purbeck Close, was arrested back in April 2020 after warrants were carried out at a number of properties in Bedfordshire. At one address in Bedford, police recovered around £145,000 in cash, as well as £25,000 worth of drugs.
Dolan pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs as well as possession of criminal property, and was sentenced in June.
Following his sentencing, a financial investigation was launched by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) and a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing was held at Luton Crown Court on 11 November.
At the hearing, it was agreed that the £145,000 recovered from Dolan’s address would be permanently seized.
Financial Investigator Nicky Thacker, from ERSOU’s Financial Investigation Team, said: “Although the money was seized at the time of the warrants, a thorough investigation had to take place to see whether the money could be attributed to Dolan and whether he had any other funds available.
“At the POCA hearing it was established that this was all the cash available to Dolan, and so we were able to permanently seize it from him to ensure that he does not have access to his ill-gotten gains in the future.
“Our financial investigation team will continue to work hard to ensure that drug dealers across the eastern region, such as Dolan, are stripped of the very thing that motivates them to become involved in crime in the first place.”
In cases like this, the police are able to claim some of the confiscated money and assets back to reinvest into policing.
