Minister of National Security Wayne Perinchief will table a bill this afternoon that’s the first step towards his plan of stripping drug dealers and gun-runners of their ill-gotten gains.He first announced in May that he wants suspected criminals to lose their cash, cars, boats and bling even when there’s not enough evidence to prosecute them.His proposed amendments to the Proceeds of Crime Act will allow civil action against the alleged crooks where lawyers can prove “on the balance of probabilities” that such possessions result from a criminal lifestyle.That standard of proof is lower than the criminal standard of “beyond reasonable doubt”, and the onus would be on the accused to prove the goods are not ill-gotten gains.Previously, prosecutors could only seek to confiscate assets from criminals once they’d been convicted of a criminal offence.Today’s bill is the first step in that process; it allows the courts to strip suspected crooks of cash that police seize in the process of their investigations.Mr Perinchief told reporters this lunchtime: “Intelligence analysis indicates that when cash flow is disrupted, gang activity is lessened. When it becomes apparent to defendants and others that the criminal justice system will not stop at sentencing but will ensure that crime genuinely does not pay, this will act as a deterrent.“The bill I will table today is the first step in disrupting the cash flow that is so vital to any criminal enterprise in this community. The bill targets cash which a police officer seizes in the course of his duties. It is not just any cash, however. The officer must have reasonable grounds for suspecting that the cash is the proceeds of criminal conduct or intended for that purpose.”He added: “The bill is not designed to harass Joe Public. This bill will not affect the ordinary man who does his legitimate personal business in cash. This bill will target the financiers of crime. This bill is designed to crush the criminal masterminds whose cash reserves fund violence and promote the misery of drugs and other illegal activities that consume our communities.”He said the work on the other provisions he has announced continues, and today’s bill is a “vital first step” in the process.