Cumbria Police given three months to connect £40k found in taxi on M6 to criminal activity

Cumbria Police have been given three months to find out if £40,000 in cash, which was discovered in a taxi, is connected to criminal activity.

Police stopped the speeding car on the M6 near Penrith and found the cash on a passenger.

On Tuesday 24 October, the district judge agreed the money should be formally detained until it is discovered where the money came from.

This comes after police announced that £360,000 in cash and drugs potentially worth £230,000 had been seized by officers in the space of just three days last week.

This is part of Cumbria Constabulary’s continued bid to stop criminals profiting from the sale of illegal substances on the county’s streets.

A financial investigator also told how an additional £40,000 was found late last week as a Vietnamese man was being transported in a private hire vehicle, at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court.

This taxi was stopped while travelling south on the motorway close to Junction 41 near Penrith, at what officers believed was excessive speed.

The taxi had been legitimately hired from the Birmingham area with investigators saying that such journeys had been noted by police in the past.

The passenger was believed to be in the UK illegally. Despite not having a fixed address, he had since been released by immigration service staff.

The police investigator said in his address to district judge Timothy Gascoyne that he believed that the £40,000 cash could be connected to criminal activity.

He asked for the money to be formally detained so that further enquiries about its origin could be made.

The district judge granted the application and police now have three months to continue their investigation.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...