What's the difference between 'seized' and 'arrested'?

I believe seized just means taken into custody. Perhaps for an interrogation. (Under) arrest means you are being accused of a crime and will have to be let out only on bail or until proven innocent.

In this case, most likely nothing. It could imply that they (the cops) just grabbed him and took him without placing him under arrest. Although I would bet that it’s being used as just another word for arrest.

Not much difference in this context, but as others have said, 'seized' implies that there may have been a struggle or there was some sort of drama involved. There's a sense of orderliness with being arrested which seize doesn't have.

Seized in this sense, is to take using sudden force. As in, they completed the deal and then grabbed and handcuffed the (alleged) criminal. It's describing the arrest, rather than it being something different from an arrest. An arrest only requires that you be told you're under arrest, you may not even be handcuffed. It's cognate with the French word *arrêter*, to stop.

In British English this would probably not be used. People are either "arrested" (legally detained by police) or else they are asked to voluntarily cooperate with police e.g. attend an interview without obligation. The police can't "seize" people, only arrest them, which has a particular legal meaning. Items (personal property, goods, vehicles etc) can be "seized".

Seized is arrested by many people, probably violently. Or like...taken when they were doing something else. It implies a bit more violence.

The two words mean the same things. The context is what matters in determining the meaning of a word.

Authorities 'seize' physical objects, like contraband, while 'arrest' is for people who break the law.

In this context, I expect that 'arrested' could have been used but the word was chosen simply because the author thought that 'seized' sounded better. Since 'cops' is used, this is not formal writing and maybe 'arrested' would have sounded a bit legalistic or formal. I think it's purely a matter of writing style.

"Seized" is a general term for someone or something being taken, with the implication that it was against their will. If an object is seized, its owner did not want it taken. "Arrested" is a specific term for a person being taken and held by the police. Being arrested has specific laws and rules about how it can be done correctly, legally and safely.

Arrest means simply the law enforcement (the police) taking someone in. It's explicitly used in context of the police. Seize involves holding someone using force/against their will in general or taking stuff from someone. **Easier way to explain it:** a) Law enforcement arrests people, or can seize property. b) Seize just means capture of something **in general**, it's less used for people and more commonly for things or contraband.

Being arrested is a legal process with protocols that must be followed etc. 'Seized' just implies that the people are now in control of the undercover cops. Depending on the source here, it's likely that the writer doesn't know if they were formally arrested or not. That's maybe as likely to happen later.

“He was **seized** by undercover cops as soon as the deal was completed,” means, “He was **suddenly arrested** by undercover cops as soon as the deal was completed.”

I need to keep reading the comments thanks!

In normal non-technical English, I would say that you arrest people and you seize objects/things.

If you “seize” something, you take it with some measure of force, to grab hold of something strongly. There’s also an implied suddenness of the action. It has nothing to do implicitly with being arrested, but the context implies the arrest because cops aggressively grabbed hold of someone.

seize means to take, to arest means to make something stop (although the majority of the time it means the thing where the cops get you) In the context of criminal arrest, they can be used interchangeably becuase like… the cops grab you then hold onto you, so do you refer to it by the grabbing or the holding on. Either way works

Seize is more generic, meaning captured

Seized implies that force was used, and that the arrest was swift and unexpected.