Police seize £80,000-worth of drugs and cash in Eastbourne

Police have seized more than £80,000 in cash and drugs after officers spotted a suspected drug dealer in an Eastbourne street.
Police seized thousands of pounds worth of drugs and cash after the incident in Willowfield Road, Eastbourne (Pic by Jon Rigby)Police seized thousands of pounds worth of drugs and cash after the incident in Willowfield Road, Eastbourne (Pic by Jon Rigby)
Police seized thousands of pounds worth of drugs and cash after the incident in Willowfield Road, Eastbourne (Pic by Jon Rigby)

The £27,500 cash recovered will now help fund the criminal justice system, it has been announced today (January 15).

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It all began when a patrol car turned into Willowfield Road and officers spotted a group of ‘known drug users’ being approached by a suspected dealer on June 25, 2018.

Sussex Police said when he saw the officers, the suspect rapidly turned away and rushed inside a house in the same street.

The officers pursued him to a first floor bedsit – but when they gained access he had jumped out of a back window.

According to Sussex Police, there was a strong smell of cannabis in one of the rooms and an initial search found a mobile phone, cash, cannabis, white powder, and drug paraphernalia.

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More drugs, a knife, another mobile phone and more cash, totalling £20,000, were found concealed elsewhere in the room.

A man believed to be linked to the property was arrested in nearby Seaside Road, when found to be in possession of cannabis and cocaine, police said.

The seized cash totalled £27,518.21, the cannabis had an estimated street value of £30,000, and the cocaine had a street value of £26,211.

All the seized cash and drugs have now been subject of a Forfeiture Order made by police under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

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The cash is forwarded to central government funds, but 50 per cent from cash forfeitures such as these will return to the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner and Sussex Police.

Detective Inspector Mark O’Brien of the force’s Economic Crime Unit said, “This helps us to fund drugs enforcement and other local police activity and projects.

“In some cases, like this, we have not identified or prosecuted individual offenders. But it still sends the important message that we will always go after criminal assets, to try to convert them to lawful and useful purposes.”