Manx border operation seizes more than £200k in drugs and criminal cash

More than £139,000 of cannabis was seized during the four-month operation

Almost £219,000 in drugs and criminal cash has been seized by police since Manx Covid-19 border rules were eased.

The Isle of Man Constabulary's Operation Strongbox ran between 28 June and 31 October, monitoring the ports and postal services.

Officers dealt with 42 offences, including drug importation, money laundering and firearms possession.

Supt Stephen Maddocks said the force had targeted those who sought to "exploit our way of life".

More than £16,000 in criminal cash was intercepted during the campaign

During the four-month campaign, which started when the border re-opened to fully vaccinated non-residents, a total of 23 arrests were made at the Sea Terminal in Douglas, with the remainder of suspected offenders identified via postal and courier services.

The vast majority of the drugs seized had been sent to the island via the post, with parcels containing more than £188,000 worth of cannabis, heroin and cocaine intercepted.

Supt Maddocks said, despite the end of the campaign, the force would continue to work with police in Lancashire and Merseyside to tackle that ongoing trend.

He said: "We share intelligence and we develop intelligence, and we arrest people if there's criminality identified.

"The big thing for us here is to make sure we keep our island as safe as we can, and we've got to be agile on how we do that and continually change and develop our tactics as they do with their tactics.

"One of the big things is prevention, trying to stop it happening is the biggest way we can do that," he added.