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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Police Reveal Extent Of Organised Crime
Nick Hopkins, Crime Correspondent Guardian, The (UK)
Thursday 03 Aug 2000 Subj: UK: Police Reveal Extent Of Organised Crime Pubdate: Thu, 03 Aug 2000 Source: Guardian, The (UK) Author: Nick Hopkins, Crime Correspondent POLICE REVEAL EXTENT OF ORGANISED CRIME Crime Gangs In The UK Are 'networking', Intelligence Research Finds Special Report: Policing Crime More than 900 crime families and other organised criminal groups in the UK, are dealing in activities ranging from drugs smuggling to trafficking endangered species of rare animals, a report revealed yesterday. With crime costing the country an estimated (pounds)350bn a year, the gangs pose a formidable threat to the economy and the justice system. They have started "networking" in a way that could make them more difficult to catch, the National Criminal Intelligence Service warned. NCIS said 56% of gangs are involved in drug trafficking and nearly all are money laundering in the report The Threat from Serious and Organised Crime. Yet NCIS found that few solicitors, accountants and estate agents had written "suspicious transaction reports". Investigators believe that many professionals turn a blind eye to criminal activity. Rows between rival drug gangs accounted for an estimated 52 murders in the UK last year, the report said. The increase in the number of kidnappings - from 41 in 1998 to 72 last year-was a reflection of the increase in illegal entrant traffic, particularly from the Fujian province in China. Many of those who pay criminals for passage into the UK are either forced into prostitution or imprisoned until their families pay ransom money. While most of the crime gangs in the UK are British, NCIS identified significant activity by criminals from Albania, China, Colombia, the former Soviet Union, south Asia, Turkey, west Africa and the West Indies. Albanian criminals were associated mainly with heroin trafficking, and prostitution. Chinese Triads, primarily the 14K and Wo Shing Wo groups, were linked to illegal immigration. The Colombian cocaine cartels have been focusing particular attention on the UK because users here are prepared to pay up to 20% more for the drug than in other European countries. The report said there were signs that crime gangs are beginning to diversify and collaborate in an unprecedented way. "Thus, south Asian criminals appear to be involved in a wide spectrum of organised crime, including armed robbery, insurance fraud, credit card fraud, and vehicle theft, as well as crimes with which they were previously associated, such as heroin trafficking and illegal immigration." The report added: "If a greater degree of collaboration occurs between criminals of different ethnicities, it will... make criminals more effective by introducing them to new criminal networks." NCIS has compiled intelligence reports on 930 families and gangs working in the UK, though Roger Gaspar, the director of intelligence at NCIS, said they were not all major organisations. Computer hacking, internet fraud and counterfeiting of the Euro were identified as key problems for the future. The report said one high street bank, HSBC, came under regular attack from hackers, though security had never been breached. One hacker tried 150m passwords over two days before giving up. The trafficking of endangered animals and plants was also highlighted. In 1997 and 1998, 2,999 live animals were seized. The haul included 22 crocodiles, and scores of parrots, butterflies and poisonous frogs. "The grip and influence of organised crime is far reaching," said John Abbott, director general of NCIS. "There is nothing glamorous about organised crime, it brings with it many victims. The effects are increasingly felt in every local community throughout the UK." NCIS report in full: http://www.ncis.gov.uk/publications.html
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