Specialist police seized £160,000 in just four days from passengers travelling through two Kent ports.

It was feared the cash was either obtained illegally or could be used to fund illegal activity, and was seized by Frontier Operations officers under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

In the first incident, on September 30, £3,000 was taken when two men in a pick-up truck were searched at Folkestone, and the stash was found in a camera case and wallets.

Two days later, also at the Channel Tunnel, two Kosovan men were stopped, and a carrier bag found, packed with 43,000 Euros and £6,000.

In the final incident, two days later at Dover's Eastern Docks, a passenger dropped a package when challenged by officers. On searching him and a passenger, several packages were found, containing a total of 80,000 Euros.

Detective Inspector Charlie Stokes said: "Our officers based at the ports work hard around the clock searching people and vehicles entering and leaving the UK.

"They use various means to find contraband, disrupt criminal activity, apprehend suspects, keep our borders safe and gather intelligence.

"The work they do is particularly important because Kent is the gateway to both the UK and Europe."

Arrests were made for each incident, with the suspects released on bail for investigations to be carried out.