A 44-year-old man has been sent to prison for 40 months for transferring criminal property contrary to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Bilal Tozsu, 44, from Margate in Kent, helped organised crime groups to launder money obtained through criminal activities.

He travelled throughout the UK collecting more than £4,000,000 on behalf of these groups.

In March 2023 Tozsu was stopped in his car on the M4 at Magor by officers from Tarian, the Regional Organised Crime Unit for southern Wales (ROCU), working in partnership with Gwent Police.

During a search of his vehicle officers discovered bags containing large bundles of cash, later confirmed to total over £285,000. The subsequent investigation into Tozsu’s activities revealed the full extent of his role in aiding organised crime.

Detective Constable Sean Meyrick, from Tarian’s Regional Disruption team, said: “Bilal Tozsu played a significant role in helping organised crime groups benefit from the proceeds of crime.

“Cash is the lifeblood of these groups, enabling them to reinvest ‘laundered’ money into activities such as drug trafficking, which in turn fuels violence and fear.

“Tarian is committed to tackling organised criminality and we welcome the sentence today. The money recovered during this investigation has been prevented from reaching the hands of those who would use it to inflict the most harm upon our region.”