Background Cash forfeiture
5.Part III of the Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990 introduced a new power for police and Customs officers to seize cash discovered on import or export which is reasonably suspected of being derived from or intended for use in drug trafficking. An application may subsequently be made in a magistrates’ court for the forfeiture of the cash. No conviction is required for the forfeiture of the cash to be ordered; cash forfeiture proceedings are civil proceedings and the civil standard of proof applies. These provisions were later consolidated into Part II of the Drug Trafficking Act 1994, which applies on a UK-wide basis.