WE'LL TAKE HOMES OF SUSPECTED DRUG BARONS, SAYS STRAW

SUSPECTED drugs barons who have not been prosecuted for a criminal offence
will have their homes and cars seized, under Home Office plans.

Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, is determined to bring forward new measures
against the "Mr Bigs" of organised crime - the masterminds who flaunt their
wealth and stay one step ahead of the law. Senior police chiefs have grown
frustrated at their inability to seize the assets of major criminals
because they cannot gather sufficient evidence to make a prosecution stick.

Home Office officials are now drawing up proposals whereby police could
apply to the civil courts for the confiscation of the personal fortunes
amassed by drug dealers. The proposal is aimed primarily at drug
traffickers but will also allow police to hit back at gangsters engaged in
money laundering, racketeering, fraud and a variety of other serious crimes.

At present, drugs money can be confiscated only when a defendant has been
convicted in a criminal court - where the standard of proof is "beyond
reasonable doubt". Last year £25 million was seized in this way, but this
was still only a tiny fraction of the multi-billion-pound profits from the
trade. The system is likely to be based on laws in the Republic of Ireland
where civil courts decide on "the balance of probabilities" whether
someone's wealth has been earned legitimately. This has been credited with
significant victories against the underworld.

Following discussions with Janet Reno, the United States Attorney General,
Mr Straw is understood to have rejected a more draconian scheme where
individuals have to show that their wealth has not come from crime -
effectively making people guilty until proved innocent. However, Mr Straw's
new measures, part of a wider review of the seizure of assets disclosed in
The Sunday Telegraph last month, will cause further dismay among civil
liberties groups which are increasingly critical of the Government's
hard-line law and order policies.

But a ministerial aide said: "This is about organised crime and serious
money. It is for the Mr Bigs who don't necessarily get their hands dirty,
but about whom the police have strong suspicions. It's not about burglars
or petty offenders." A recent report from Northumbria Police highlighted
the case of an "untouchable" suspect living in a council house but owning
three Porsche sports cars for which he had paid cash. The man had no bank
account or visible means of support and surveillance had failed to prove
positive links with crime.

Supt Bob Pattison, who drew up the report, said: "Money and assets are the
base of the triangle which supports drug barons, their criminality and drug
trafficking. By removing the financial power base their operations
collapse." Fraser Kemp, the Labour MP for Houghton and Washington East,
said: "Our cities are being blighted by organised drug barons who live
ostentatiously off their ill-gotten gains. We need to hit them where it
hurts - in the pocket. The innocent will have nothing to fear."