Operation Rize

In raids on 7000 safe deposit boxes in London beginning on 2 June, Metropolitan Police officers seized three paintings by 17th Century Dutch artists and a 20th Century portrait by a Russian artist amidst a treasure trove of international criminal loot: jewellery, gold dust, gold bars, heroin, cocaine, counterfeit foreign currency, hand guns, passports, documents for human trafficking, images of child sex abuse and £53.5m in stolen cash. Officers are still searching safe deposit centres in Park Street, Hampstead and Edgware, which are being guarded by armed police. If any international criminal would like to claim his or her loot, please telephone the Met. on 0800 030 4613. (Information from Met. Police Crime Bulletin 0000000881, 2 June, title link.)