A police raid on safe deposit boxes has revealed an "Aladdin's cave of criminality" that spans murder, money laundering, paedophilia, people trafficking and drug running. The findings have led to 1,000 inquiries around the world.
More than 3,500 boxes were raided by officers from the Metropolitan Police's Specialist Crime Directorate in June last year.
They seized £35 million of cash in various denominations, of which £1 million has still to be claimed, dozens of passports, cocaine, firearms, forged banking bonds, including one for $4.95 milion, suitcases full of gold and cannabis.
The contents of some of the boxes are being investigated by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, The Times has learnt.
Seven hundred of the box holders are being referred to Customs for suspected tax evasion involving £15 million and officers have discovered a significant number of "ghosts" – people who have never paid any tax at all.
Elephant tusks worth £40,000 were also confiscated after a suspect's home was searched.
Police inquiries have led all over the world and officers expect the investigations to run for years to come. So far 11 people have been charged in connection with the raid, codenamed Operation Rize, and 40 have been arrested.
More than half of the boxes are thought to be connected to criminal activity.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Ponting, from the Economic and Specialist Crime Command, said: "We have uncovered an Aladdin's cave of criminality that has disrupted organised crime around the world.
"Absolutely any crime you can think about is being investigated. Some of the boxes have not been accessed for some years, including boxes that contain millions of pounds.
"We are unravelling a whole heap of criminality."
Some of the boxes belong to serving prisoners who were hoping to serve their sentences and then pick up their hidden booty. Detectives are investigating the contents of one box – not accessed for more than 10 years – that contained a hammer, chisel and pipe wrench. "There is clearly a story behind these items," Mr Ponting said.
He added: "Operation Rize was the first of its kind, targeting criminals who use this type of secure storage. This has had a dramatic impact on organised criminal networks globally, there is no doubt about that at all. This is a significant operation and it will be running for a number of years.
"Many boxes were being used to store undisclosed income and we have even discovered a significant number of individuals who have never paid tax in their lives who are now being investigated.
Sixty officers are working on the case full time.
All legitimate property had been returned, Mr Ponting added.
The police raided three addresses in Hampstead, Edgware, and Westminster in June last year and made several arrests of people associated with the companies on suspicion of money laundering. They have been bailed to return to police later this year.
Source:the times
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