Figures released to the Otago Daily Times under the Official Information Act show $19.7 million of assets had been "restrained" by the New Zealand Police under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act from when the legislation took effect in December until June 30 this year.
Assets connected with criminal activity can be the subject of a restraining order from police before being placed in the custody of an Official Assignee, who is responsible for selling assets and returning any funds to the Government.
To date, $107,915 worth of assets - from the Auckland and Counties Manukau Police Districts - has been subject to forfeiture orders.
Of all police districts, Waikato leads the way with $6.6 million worth of restrained assets, followed by Auckland ($5.7 million) and Waitemata ($1.4 million).
The Southern District has recorded $360,000 worth of restrained assets, with the Canterbury and Northland districts recording none.
Police Minister Judith Collins said she was not concerned only a fraction of seized assets had been forfeited as "what we are seeing are the first forfeitures emerging from the process".
Money raised from future asset sales would be put into a Government fund and some of the money raised used to fund anti-methamphetamine initiatives.
"I believe that using criminal profits against them will be poetic justice," she said.
The methamphetamine trade alone was estimated to be worth $1.2 billion a year and "organised crime bosses have grown rich from drug-dealing, violence and money-laundering".
"Police now have the legislative power to come after their ill-gotten gains," she said.
Previously, the Crown required a conviction before seizing assets, but now it was sufficient to prove on the balance of probabilities that a person had unlawfully benefited from criminal offending, she said.
Ms Collins said the total value of assets investigated since the introduction of the Act was an estimated $50.9 million.
Included in that amount was an estimated $13.5 million cash and bank accounts, $15.5 million of residential and commercial properties, $8.4 million of lifestyle blocks and farms, and $600,000 worth of motor vehicles.
A Mongrel Mob house in Dunedin is set to be sold after being forfeited to the Crown.
It was the subject of a restraining order in April following a police raid.
The Middleton Rd property has a rateable value of $195,000.
