A DRUG dealer has had over £2,000 of criminal property seized as part of a new push to ‘hit criminals where it hurts’.

Last month alone, South Yorkshire Police’s Asset Recovery Team (ART) saw more than £59,000 seized and put back into the criminal justice system.

Part of this came from 37-year-old Jamie Lloyd, of Castle Street, who was sentenced to 54 months in prison for drug trafficking offences, with £2,171 worth of criminal property seized that he has three months to pay back.

Head of asset recovery, financial investigator Laura Hough, said: “We know that criminals like to live the life of luxury, splashing their income from their life of crime on designer clothes, luxury cars and even second homes.

“The work my team does ensures that these criminals do not continue to benefit from this lavish behaviour after they are caught by our officers.

“You may wonder where this money goes once it is paid back following a confiscation order. To put it simply, it is divided up, with some going back to the force who caught the criminal to fund training or extra staff, some going back to the Home Office and a large majority going towards community initiatives.

“It’s the local communities that suffer the most when it comes down to criminal activities so it is really rewarding that we can put money back into these communities to fund projects such as violence against women and girls (VAWG) training, information sessions on cybercrime and fund local support groups.”