United Kingdom prosecutors are pursuing the seizure of all assets tied to convicted drug trafficker Craig Costello, including over £137,000 in cash and digital assets they allege were acquired through illegal drug proceeds. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed the action, which follows Costello's 2022 conviction and nine-year prison sentence for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Investigators specifically traced £4,012.21 in Ethereum Classic (ETC) to Costello's name using financial forensics. Prosecutors believe this cryptocurrency originated from funds obtained through class A drug sales and aim to include it in a confiscation order scheduled for finalization this year. The CPS is also checking for other hidden digital wallets that may not yet be identified.
The assets targeted extend beyond cryptocurrency. Authorities have already liquidated a five-bedroom property under a proceeds of crime order, which generated equity valued at £107,722 after clearing mortgages and a government agency debt. Luxury vehicles and quad bikes seized during the investigation have also been confiscated and sold.
The final confiscation is complicated by an unresolved divorce. Victoria Costello, Craig's estranged wife, claims she contributed to the home's deposit with personal funds. Prosecutor Steve McNally told Durham Crown Court that her cash deposit claim must be assessed before the final division and confiscation can be completed.
Costello was part of a global drug trafficking network run by Stockton drugs baron Jon Moorby and Merseyside gangster Lance Kennedy, who oversaw around £17 million in cocaine shipments from Spain and Belgium into the UK. Prosecutors allege Costello made illegal profits amounting to £1.6 million while managing the Teesside arm of the operation between 2015 and 2016. He worked with associates John Watson, Steven Beazley, and Dave Wright.
Costello fled to the Middle East during his 2021 trial but was captured while driving in Amsterdam by Dutch officials. He was extradited and sentenced in 2022. He is the last of his four co-conspirators to face financial recovery proceedings; the other three have already had confiscation orders enforced, returning under £300,000 from a combined criminal profit estimate of over £4 million.
