Moment excited police opened suspect’s portable safe

‘It’s like Ocean’s 11!’: Moment excited police opened suspect’s portable safe and £30,000 in cash spilled out after they arrested him in McDonald’s car park

  • West Midlands Police seized safe from back seat of a car in Coventry this week 
  • Footage captured £30,000 in cash fall to ground after it was eventually opened
  • Man arrested on suspicion of money laundering released under investigation 

This is the moment £30,000 in cash spilled to the floor when police opened a suspect’s portable safe after seizing it from a McDonald’s car park. 

West Midlands Police arrested a man on suspicion of money laundering after he was found in Gallagher Retail Park, Coventry with the large metal safe inside his car. 

Body-cam footage later captured two officers as they opened the strongbox, with one policeman heard saying: ‘It’s like Ocean’s 11’.   

In the clip, an estimated £30,000 crashes to the floor from a blue plastic bag after an officer opens the safe with a code given to him by the suspect.

Pictured: The footage

 In a clip, an estimated £30,000 crashes to the floor (right) from a blue plastic bag after an officer opens a safe found inside a car in a McDonald’s car park in Coventry

Those in the station quickly move to recover the bundles of cash, which West Midlands Police suspect is drugs money, before placing it in ziplock bags. 

Officers were called to the McDonald’s car park at around 10.35am on Wednesday following reports the suspect had been seen with a knife.

Police failed to find a weapon but instead located a safe on the backseat which was later opened to reveal thousands in cash.

The driver, 24, from Coventry, initially refused to tell officers what was inside the safe. He later refused to account for the cash or give any indication where it came from.

Officers were called to the McDonald's car park at around 10.35am on Wednesday following reports the suspect had been seen with a knife. Pictured: The fallen cash

Officers were called to the McDonald’s car park at around 10.35am on Wednesday following reports the suspect had been seen with a knife. Pictured: The fallen cash

Those in the station quickly move to recover the fallen cash, which West Midlands Police suspect is drugs money, before placing it in ziplock bags

Those in the station quickly move to recover the fallen cash, which West Midlands Police suspect is drugs money, before placing it in ziplock bags

It is believed the money could be ‘ill-gotten drugs profits’, police said, and the safe will now be examined for any traces of illegal substances.

The suspect was questioned on suspicion of theft and money laundering but has since been released under investigation.

In a statement, West Midlands Police said: ‘If he can’t prove he’s accrued the money legally we’ll look to seize it permanently under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

‘Money from the Act goes towards community projects and crime prevention schemes.’

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