Britain’s top prosecutors have announced a major crackdown on the finances of organised crime groups, fraudsters, and people smugglers, with a new strategy designed to ensure criminals lose their illicit wealth much earlier in the justice process.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on Thursday launched its Serious Economic and Organised Crime Strategy 2030 and International Strategy 2030, setting out plans to target criminal assets from the very start of prosecutions rather than waiting until convictions are secured. The move is intended to disrupt criminal networks by attacking the profits that fuel their operations.
According to the CPS, prosecutors have already recovered more than £530 million through confiscation orders over the past five years, with more than £100 million returned to victims of crime. Under the new approach, asset recovery will become a central part of prosecution planning in cases involving organised immigration crime, large-scale fraud, money laundering, cybercrime, and modern slavery.
The announcement comes as ministers continue to prioritise border security and the fight against people-smuggling gangs operating across Europe. Prosecutors will work more closely with law enforcement agencies from the earliest stages of investigations to identify and seize criminal proceeds before offenders have an opportunity to move or conceal assets overseas.
Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said the strategies would strengthen the UK’s response to increasingly sophisticated criminal organisations.
“Our focus is on tackling crimes that cause the greatest harm to society,” he said, highlighting fraud, organised immigration crime, money laundering, and modern slavery as key priorities. Parkinson added that the CPS has a duty to ensure that “crime does not pay” and that removing financial incentives is crucial to dismantling organised criminal networks.
The new plans also place greater emphasis on international cooperation. Prosecutors will seek to improve their ability to gather evidence across borders, pursue suspects who flee overseas, and work with foreign authorities to recover criminal assets hidden abroad. The CPS says this is increasingly important as organised crime becomes more global and technology-driven.
The strategy has attracted attention across legal and political circles, with supporters arguing that financial disruption is often more effective than imprisonment alone in weakening organised crime groups. With fraud and organised criminal activity costing the UK economy billions of pounds each year, prosecutors believe following the money will become one of the most powerful tools available in the fight against serious crime.
