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Crackdown on organised crime THE Western Australian Government has launched a major crackdown on organised criminals, including drug traffickers, and will allocate an extra 13 people to pursue the assets criminals have gained illegally.Attorney General Jim McGinty has announced the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will get another six staff and Western Australia Police an extra seven people to investigate the financial dealings of organised criminals and to confiscate their money and property. "Nine more people will be employed in the fight against crime including lawyers and forensic accountants, while Police will use an additional four detectives from within the service to boost the strength of the Proceeds of Crime Squad," Mr McGinty said. "Drug traffickers, in particular, have destroyed the lives of countless people and this Proceeds of Crime programme is reducing the wealth in the drug trade and, in turn, reducing the ability of drug dealers to spread their misery. "I want to ensure that criminals do not get rich from taking advantage of the vulnerable. "The paper trail of deceit created by organised criminals naturally takes longer to investigate than smaller criminal targets and that's why it is vital we allocate adequate resources to investigate their unexplained wealth." The Criminal Property Confiscation Act requires a person to establish that the ultimate source of his or her wealth was lawful; and provision is made for the confiscation of all property of a declared drug trafficker. However, investigators can also confiscate any money gained through the proceeds of crime, including bank robberies or from white-collar crime cases like fraud. The DPPs Confiscations Section would get $2.4million in Government funding this financial year - an increase of $800,000 on last year and Police would receive about an extra $400,000. "The DPP is currently in the process of confiscating a $600,000 luxury boat, four properties in Port Hedland belonging to an alleged drug dealer, and more than $2million from a couple in Perth charged with serious drug offences," the Attorney General said. The DPP estimates that it currently has $88million in property frozen. The money collected through proceeds of crime increased by more than 100 per cent in 2006-07, from $2.5million to $5.6million. The DPP expects this to double again this financial year to more than $10million. "It's clear from these figures that the Government's campaign to confiscate the property of criminals is working extremely well and emphasises that crime doesn't pay," Mr McGinty said. "The Government is determined to reinvest the money criminals have gained through illegal activities to pursue the finances and property of other criminals. "Work is also under way to draft new laws that will protect innocent third parties caught up in the proceeds of crime legislation. "It is important to reassure the public that the confiscation laws target the property of criminals and not truly innocent people who have had some association with them." The Attorney General said all the money generated by the proceeds of crime was spent on either investigating criminals or on programs to help the victims of crime. In the last round of funding announced in March this year, $1.6million seized from criminals was given to Western Australian organisations which provided support services to crime victims, prevented drug related activities or who undertook community safety and crime prevention activities. The funding included:
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