A jailed Perth drug trafficker, 37, has consented to the forfeiture of $407,780 and an Audi S3 to the Commonwealth as proceeds of crime, as a result of an AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce investigation.
The AFP Organised Crime team found the money in May 2022 after executing a search warrant at the man's Mirrabooka home during a drug investigation.
Investigators seized the cash, which was in vacuum sealed bundles hidden in portable air conditioning units and underneath the man's bed. They also seized almost 1.2kg of methamphetamine, more than 1.8kg of cocaine, a dedicated encrypted communication device (DECD) and drug paraphernalia, including a currency counting machine and drug cutting agents.
At the time, the man was already on bail for charges laid by the AFP in 2020 relating to drug trafficking and unlicensed possession of a semi-automatic handgun.
The AFP had also seized the 2016 Audi S3 sedan during the 2020 warrants.
The CACT investigated the source of the assets and successfully applied to the District Court of WA under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth) to have them forfeited to the Commonwealth.
Inquiries established the cash was the proceeds of drug trafficking, while the man had purchased the vehicle with criminal profits and had used it to distribute drugs around Perth.
The District Court of WA has now ordered the cash and car to be confiscated and the man consented to the forfeiture orders.
The money and funds from the sale of the car will be deposited into the Confiscated Assets Account, which is managed by the Australian Financial Securities Authority (AFSA) on behalf of the Commonwealth and administered by the Attorney General. The Confiscated Assets Account is a special purpose account under the POC Act and contains unique provisions to fund initiatives to support the community including crime prevention and diversion, law enforcement, and treatment of drug addiction.
AFP Criminal Assets Confiscation Commander Allison Buck said confiscating criminal assets and removing the profit from crime was a key strategy to ensure offenders did not enjoy lavish lifestyles at the expense of the community or invest the funds in other illegal ventures.
"Even after this offender serves his sentence, he will not come home to enjoy the illegal wealth that he amassed from trafficking harmful drugs in the WA community," Commander Buck said.
"The forfeiture was a result of the close collaboration between the criminal investigators, the criminal asset investigators and the lawyers in CACT.
"It is satisfying for our members to not only maximise their impact on the criminal environment but also to know these funds will now be redistributed into measures supporting the community, through crime prevention or other law enforcement initiatives."
The man was sentenced in September 2023 to 14 years' imprisonment for drug, firearm and proceeds of crime offences.
The CACT brings together the resources and expertise of the AFP, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Australian Taxation Office, AUSTRAC, and the Australian Border Force. These agencies work together to trace, restrain and ultimately confiscate criminal assets.
