Drug crooks suffer $14m kick in the assets

A total of nearly $14 million worth of assets was forfeited after an investigation into a designer drug ring, with the final criminal proceeds case ending this month — nearly a decade after the first arrests in Operation Ark.

The covert inquiry centred on the business activities of London Underground and its owner Christopher Chase, who purported to be selling legal highs or “party pills”, but were also making Ecstasy analogue pills.

Chase was one of 23 people arrested in November 2011 but the criminal prosecutions dragged on for seven years until a ruling in the Supreme Court in 2018. He is serving 10 years for drug offences.

However, the civil cases taken by the police under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act ended only this month in the High Court.

Luxury property, cash and expensive cars were seized, with the latest ruling bringing the total forfeiture of assets in Operation Ark to $13.8m, said Detective Senior Sergeant Wayne Gray of the Financial Crime Group.

“Criminal and civil cases by Police has seen the disbandment of a group who were involved in distribution of around $50m worth of analogue MDMA,” said Gray.

The forfeiture of nearly $14m in assets inhibited the gang from being able to reoffend by using their profits and hit their “lavish lifestyles”.