Forfeiture of the proceeds of drug trafficking

The Hodgson Committee in its report on "The Profits of Crime and Their Recovery", which is being examined by the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, made a number of recommendations relating to forfeiture and confiscation of the proceeds of crimes. The Committee, inter alia, recommended that the criminal courts should have the power to order the confiscation of the proceeds of crimes but that there should be a prescribed minimum amount below which no confiscation order could be made. This article comments on those recommendations relating to the proceeds of drug crimes, and suggests three possible ways of developing international cooperation to secure the tracing or confiscation of illegally acquired assets held abroad. The alternatives suggest either extending national laws to deal with these problems, in accordance with the provisions of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs; or following the example of Canada, where it is understood to be an offence to receive or possess the proceeds of crime irrespective of whether or not that crime took place in Canada; or developing a more extensive extra-territorial jurisdiction, for which there are precedents in the field of terrorism. One of the two annexes to this article describes recent initiatives within the Council of Europe to promote co-operation in tracing, freezing and confiscation of assets arising from drug trafficking, and the other provides an example of bilateral agreement (Cayman Islands) on disclosure of banking arrangements.