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Tuesday 30 November 2010

JOHN 'PIDDY' GORMAN

Reportage - 11:45

Snared after a two-year police probe which involved Europol and led to £61million of drugs being recovered.
Gorman, of Irvine, Ayrshire, was convicted of supplying heroin, cocaine and cannabis and jailed for 12 years.
Four accomplices were jailed for a total of 16-and-a-half years.

Scotland's Most Wanted - Jamie Stevenson.

Reportage - 11:43

JAMIE STEVENSON
Jailed in April 2007 for more than 12 years for money laundering, the Iceman used cash from drugs to buy luxury watches and set up a taxi firm.
Investigators recovered nearly £600,000 in cash and 55 luxury watches worth £307,000.
Stevenson was snared after a massive surveillance operation.
The net was closing on the Iceman and the detective sergeant was preparing the ground for a European arrest warrant to be issued.
Wilson said: "After we took £400,000 off Stevenson's associates, he fled to Holland where he remained for three to four months.
"The purpose of my briefing was to make arrangements for his arrest.
"We had been working with the Dutch and Spanish from the early days of Operation Folklore and this was the endgame."
Two months later, Stevenson was arrested at his home in Burnside.
But as cops swooped in Glasgow, Wilson was in Amsterdam to observe the gangster's rented flat being searched by Dutch police.
Folklore, which also nailed John "Piddy" Gorman, was the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency's most successful operation.
And it is but one example of how Europol helps join the dots in complex transnational investigations.
Wilson said: "Europol did a lot of the analysis and identified a lot of the cross-overs.
"They gave us the opportunity to speak to the Spanish and the Dutch.
"There was a lot of assistance given by both of these countries.
"It was a Scottish inquiry but Europol helped to bring it together."
Four years on, Wilson is now SCDEA UK liaison officer at Europol. And in his first interview since taking up his post in The Hague, Wilson told how:
Dealers go to producing countries to source cocaine and heroin.
Purity levels are less than 10 per cent as dealers maximise profits. Scots gangsters can't compete with ruthless crooks from eastern Europe. Internet crime and hi-tech frauds such as card-skimming pose massive challenges for law enforcement.
Wilson, the main point of contact for the SCDEA and Scotland's eight police forces, said: "There are 27 states in Europol and, any time we have an inquiry involving another member state, it comes to me.
"Sometimes it can be as basic as previous convictions or intelligence but it can be a lot more complicated in terms of background checks."
Wilson has handled 170 inquiries from the SCDEA and 12 from Strathclyde Police since moving to Holland in January. About 90 per cent involve drugs and money-laundering.
He has noticed a dramatic change in drugs crime since he first became involved in intelligence-gathering. Wilson said: "In 2002, our main dealers were going down to the south of England, to Liverpool, London or Manchester to get their supplies.
"Over the last couple of years, we have had a number of cases involving Scottish-based criminals who have travelled directly to South America.
"Scottish criminals are also going to Spain and Holland where they are going face to face with Colombians supplying cocaine and Turkish crime groups supplying heroin.
"They are dealing direct with the suppliers which means they are getting it at a much cheaper rate."
The Caribbean has also become a regular meeting place for coke deals.
Wilson added: "On the heroin side of things, we have links from Scotland to Pakistan and Afghanistan where the heroin is coming from."
This has had ramifications for the drugs sold on Scotland's streets. Wilson said: "They been adulterated at every stage of the supply chain.
"Cocaine coming out of South America is probably 88/90 per cent pure. By the time it makes it to west Africa or Spain, it will be adulterated. Once it gets further up through Europe, it is adulterated again.
"When it gets to Scotland's streets, it is less than 10 per cent.
"The big concerns is what it is being adulterated with. It is not being adulterated in nice clean labs."
The emergence of eastern European gangsters is also a cause for concern.
Wilson said: "Crime groups from Albania, Serbia and Romania can be extremely ruthless.
"Some of them are former soldiers and Scottish criminals would struggle if they went up against them."
Earlier this year, there was a crackdown on the Georgian mafia in Spain and Austria. But eastern European gangs filled the vacuum. Wilson said they are also moving in on the rest of Europe's cocaine market - previously controlled by the Spanish.
Europol is also perfectly placed to monitor the explosion in synthetic drugs, which are mainly produced in Holland and Belgium.
Wilson said: "People don't really know what they are taking. There are long-term risks to many of the drugs."
Online crime is another challenge, with identity theft booming.
Wilson said: "Criminals take advantage of the fact there is so much movement of people in Europe.
"Another massive crime is cards being skimmed at ATMS.
"Devices are put on ATMS and, when people put their card in, this device allows people to clone it, then use it."



Sunday 28 November 2010

SOUTH Devon police officers could be ordered to retire as force bosses face up to Government cuts they anticipate could mean slashing £14 million from the Devon and Cornwall budget for the coming year alone.

Reportage - 10:00
SOUTH Devon police officers could be ordered to retire as force bosses face up to Government cuts they anticipate could mean slashing £14 million from the Devon and Cornwall budget for the coming year alone.: "SOUTH Devon police officers could be ordered to retire as force bosses face up to Government cuts they anticipate could mean slashing £14 million from the Devon and Cornwall budget for the coming year alone.
And there are fears that low crime areas like the South Hams could be hit harder as limited resources are pumped into higher crime areas.
Police chiefs are looking at employing a never-before used police rule which would force every officer with more than 30 years service to hand in their papers and retire.
The Devon and Cornwall force is faced with axing 700 officers over the next four years — one fifth of the entire constabulary strength of 3,500 men and women."

Princes suicide friend linked to gangland thugs | Mail Online

Reportage - 09:50
Luxury Plasteramic Watch Collection - White PavePrinces suicide friend linked to gangland thugs Mail Online: "property tycoon acquaintance of Prince Charles who threw himself under a Tube train was forced to hand over hiswatch collection to underworld ‘enforcers’ just two hours before he died, it was claimed last night. Paul Castle, 54, who often played polo with Charles, walked out of his London office on November 17 and died at Bond Street station. His multi-million-pound empire, which included a Michelin-starred restaurant, had been badly hit by the recession and he faced the threat of bankruptcy."

Saturday 27 November 2010

Gardai fear cousins shot on orders of ‘drug tax’ brothers - National News, Frontpage - Herald.ie

Reportage - 19:49
Gardai fear cousins shot on orders of ‘drug tax’ brothers - National News, Frontpage - Herald.ie: "Republican gang has been demanding a 20pc cut of drugs profits from all Dublin's major criminal outfits -- including 'Fat' Freddie's gang.
It's now thought the unemployed cousins were murdered because they refused to hand over money to the RIRA gang, led by three brothers.
Mark Noonan (23) and Glen Murphy (19) were executed in a hail of 15 bullets after stopping at the Tesco filling station in Clearwater, Finglas.
The Republican brothers who are leading the Real IRA racketeering gang were kicked out of the Continuity IRA and also have links to an INLA protection gang. They have been attempting to control the pub door security business in Dublin to run the weekend “recreational” drugs market in the city.
More recently they have approached all the major crime gangs, including ‘Fat Freddie’ Thompson’s outfit, and one major hotelier demanding a 20pc slice of all their takings."

Friday 26 November 2010

Cold blooded BMW assassins lured their two victims to Tesco - National News, Frontpage - Herald.ie

Reportage - 11:02
Cold blooded BMW assassins lured their two victims to Tesco - National News, Frontpage - Herald.ie: "GARDAI were seconds away from catching the three man hit squad behind the Tesco murders.
A patrol car chased the BMW 5 series carrying two gunmen and their driver as it sped from the filling station at Clearwater, Finglas. The getaway car hit speeds of up to 200kph as it fled the scene.
Cousins Glen Murphy (19) and Mark Noonan (23) were gunned down in a hail of 15 bullets a minute earlier.
A marked garda car -- with unarmed officers inside -- pursued the killers' BMW from the Finglas Road onto the M1.
The killers' car, travelling at speeds of up to 180kph, sped north on the motorway. The garda car could not keep up and lost the dark-coloured vehicle.
Officers scrambled available units to find the car, but no trace of it has been seen since. A search for the vehicle -- which an 06 D registration -- is ongoing today.
Details of the dramatic getaway emerged as gardai investigated whether the two men shot at the Tesco service station were lured to their deaths.
Gardai are also examining if small-time drug dealer Glen Murphy (19) was contacted by his killers shortly before he travelled to the Tesco Extra shop at Clearwater in Finglas. A meeting may have been arranged at or near the service station, it is suspected."

Monday 22 November 2010

Family of husband of bride murdered in South Africa hits out at 'slurs' | Mail Online

Reportage - 08:02
Family of husband of bride murdered in South Africa hits out at 'slurs' | Mail Online: "British businessman whose bride was murdered on their honeymoon in Cape Town has been asked to return to the city ‘within days’, it has been reported.
South African police want Shrien Dewani to identify suspects in the murder of his wife, Anni.
The request for Mr Dewani, 30, to return to Cape Town comes as it is reported that South African detectives have started to question his account of the events which led to his wife’s death.
Police are reportedly puzzled as to how Mr Dewani – who was thrown from the couple’s hijacked taxi 20 minutes after it was taken – escaped with no visible injuries.
Zola Tongo, the Congolese driver of the taxi, has gone into hiding after turning state witness. And officers are reported to have said they will soon make an ‘explosive revelation’."

Sunday 21 November 2010

Ministers accused of secretly shelving deal to pay compensation to victims of terrorist attacks abroad - Telegraph

Reportage - 11:31
Ministers accused of secretly shelving deal to pay compensation to victims of terrorist attacks abroad - Telegraph: "Ministry of Justice said the scheme to make payments to victims of attacks in Mumbai, Bali and other atrocities was now under review even though it had been backed by the Conservatives in opposition.
The decision to look at the payments again has angered victims and comes in the week when the Government agreed to pay millions of pounds to British detainees in Guantánamo Bay.
'It is absolutely disgraceful that we are being left hanging like this,' said Will Pike, who was left paralysed below the waist after jumping from a third floor window to escape gunmen rampaging through the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai."

Love rat Arsenal England star Jack Wilshere cautioned on brawl | The Sun |News

Reportage - 11:29
Love rat Arsenal £ England star Jack Wilshere cautioned on brawl | The Sun |News: "ENGLAND soccer starlet Jack Wilshere was shamed again yesterday - as cops formally cautioned him for yobbery hours after The Sun exposed him as a love rat.
The glum-looking teen sensation went to a police station at 3pm with his solicitor to accept the reprimand for punching a young clubber.
Arsenal's midfield wonderkid, 18, was captured on CCTV during a nightclub brawl 2½ months ago.
The £50,000-a-week midfielder turned up at West London's Notting Hill nick in jeans, trainers and a puffer jacket - after yesterday's Sun revealed he cheated on his girlfriend with a blonde lapdancer.
He was arrested after a fracas in August during which a girl celebrating her 21st birthday was left with a broken arm.
Her boyfriend - knocked to the ground and kicked outside the capital's Amika nightspot - needed stitches."

Saturday 20 November 2010

Northern Ireland homes are raided in UK drugs crackdown - Northern Ireland, Local & National - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Reportage - 11:32
Northern Ireland homes are raided in UK drugs crackdown - Northern Ireland, Local & National - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk: "Two properties in Northern Ireland were raided as part of a co-ordinated operation targeting drug gangs across the UK.
More than 200 police officers took part, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) said.
Twenty men and two women were arrested in Merseyside, three men in London, one man in Lancashire and a 48-year-old man in Cairnryan, near Stranraer, Scotland.
Officers seized a quantity of cash, class A drugs and a number of forged identity documents.
Searches were also carried out at two properties in Cushendall, Co Antrim.
Items were removed for forensic examination from a house in Gaults Road and an apartment on Coast Road in the village, near Ballymena."

Thursday 18 November 2010

Stuffed into sack then hammered to death in van | The Sun |News

Reportage - 01:43
Stuffed into sack then hammered to death in van | The Sun |News: "SLEDGEHAMMER victim died in front of shoppers yesterday after armed police dramatically pulled him from the van of a kidnap gang.
Cops ambushed the vehicle as it headed through the busy high street of a posh village - but had no idea the bloodied captive was in the back."

Thursday 11 November 2010

man was being questioned by detectives today over an aggravated burglary at the home of former Phones4U chief John Caudwell

Reportage - 00:23
man was being questioned by detectives today over an aggravated burglary at the home of former Phones4U chief John Caudwell, police said.

The 48-year-old from Liverpool was arrested on suspicion of the crime last night, a spokesman for Staffordshire Police said.

Mr Caudwell, one of Britain's richest businessmen, suffered a gash to his head during the incident at Broughton Hall, his mansion near Eccleshall, Staffs, on Monday November 1.

A police spokesman said: "Detectives investigating the aggravated burglary at Broughton Hall have arrested a 48-year-old man from Liverpool.

"The man was arrested by officers from Staffordshire and Merseyside forces in Liverpool on Tuesday afternoon.

"He was initially detained in custody in Merseyside before being transferred to Staffordshire Police's northern area custody facility in Stoke-on-Trent where he remained overnight.

"The man was arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary."

Mr Caudwell, who sold the Caudwell Group for a reported £1.4 billion in 2006, has become well-known in recent years for his work with Caudwell Children, a charity that provides specialist equipment, treatment and therapies for sick, autistic and disabled youngsters.

murder inquiry is under way after two men were killed in a shooting

Reportage - 00:21
murder inquiry is under way after two men were killed in a shooting, police said today.

Officers were called at around 4.30am yesterday after reports of shots being fired outside Strang House in Britannia Row, Islington, north London.

Emergency services including the air ambulance attended and found two men in their 20s with gunshot wounds.

One was pronounced dead at the scene just after 5am. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers were waiting for his next of kin to be informed and formal identification to take place.

The second man died in the early hours of this morning after being taken to an east London hospital in a critical condition. His next of kin have been informed.

Police believe the victims, who were standing outside the building at the time, were shot by two male suspects who approached on foot and made off in an unknown direction.

No arrests have been made and there are no further details on the suspects.

An incident room has been opened at Barking police station under Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Clayman from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command.

Mr Clayman said: "We appeal to anyone who was in the area at the time of the incident who may have seen or heard anything suspicious, or has any information about this incident, to contact us in confidence."

Monday 8 November 2010

Turkish and Kurdish gangs becoming new 'mafia'?

Reportage - 10:39
BBC News - Could Turkish and Kurdish gangs become new 'mafia'?: "Kitted out in body armour, he claimed he was one of the main players in north London and could get hold of better weapons than Scotland Yard's Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machine guns.
A few weeks later Arslan, whose Tottenham Boys gang are involved in a bloody feud with the rival Hackney Turks, was on the streets again seeking to back up his boasts.
Murder attempt decorator jailed
Armed with a Croatian-made Agram sub-machine gun, he flagged down a Ford Transit van in a Tottenham street.
He fired four shots at the occupants, Nasir Demir and Hamit Koban, but they escaped serious injury by reversing the van away at high speed.
At Arslan's recent trial Mr Demir, giving evidence from behind a curtain, said he was an innocent businessman but, asked why he had been shot at, he said: 'Gang-related. Because they want control. If you ever get in the way they get you out of the way.'
In London alone there are an estimated 50,000 Turks, not including Turkish Cypriots, and 200,000 Kurds from Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria.


Start Quote
I'm genuinely worried about the escalation of violence and the young lives that are being lost in this parallel world of criminality”End Quote
David Lammy

MP for Tottenham
The Tottenham Boys and Hackney Turks gangs are understood to include both Turks and Kurds.
The feud has claimed at least two lives in the last 12 months - Oktay Erbasli, 23, and Cem Duzgun, 21 - and one local MP believes the violence could get worse.
David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, told the BBC: 'Gang-related activity in the Turkish-speaking community is a serious issue on the streets of London and we need far more focused action."

Europe's biker gangs set on a collision course with the police - Europe, World - The Independent

Reportage - 10:32

Europe's biker gangs set on a collision course with the police - Europe, World - The Independent: "The Rival Gangs
Hells Angels
Easily the most recognisable and largest one percenter biker gang in Europe. The Hells Angels were formed in California in 1948 by war veterans and rose to global fame after Hunter S Thompson’s expose. First European chapter opened in 1969 in London and quickly spread. Large number of new chapters have opened in Turkey.
Bandidos
Bitter rivals to Hells Angels formed by Vietnam War vet Don Chambers in 1966. Throughout the 1990s the gang fought a vicious battle with its rivals to control the drug trade in Scandinavia in a conflict known as the Great Nordic Biker War. Recent battles have broken out in Germany and Denmark following defections.
Outlaws
One of the earliest OMCGs, formed in 1935. Again their main rivals tend to be the Hells Angels (Outlaws members frequently use the phrase “Adios” to stand for Angels Dies in Outlaw States). Its first European chapter was opened in France in 1993. Recent new chapters have opened in Russia, Serbia, Japan and the Philippines."

The inside story on guns and gangs in Sheffield

Reportage - 10:28
BBC - The inside story on guns and gangs in Sheffield: "It's about respect and earning money and with that comes power and perks. You get nice females attracted to the money and the power.'
Jason is 19 years old and grew up on different estates in Sheffield but he has always been involved with the postcode gangs.
School fights led to dealing drugs and carrying a knife.
'You feel powerful and invincible, like nothing can happen to you' he explains, pulling up his hood and looking round to check nobody is watching.
He is suspicious I am an undercover police officer and he will not give too many details.
Jason is not his real name but he is typical of the gang members I have met over the last three months.
Sheffield's gang problem isn't as bad as that in Manchester, Birmingham or London but there have been murders.
In the last eight years, ten people have lost their lives - gunned down or stabbed to death when gang rivalry has exploded into violent confrontation.
S3, S4, The Parson Cross Crew, Cok Bak Reload - just some of the names identifying gangs in Sheffield"

'Come to Elland to see knuckledusters, guns and nunchucks' - the parallel world of gangland Calderdale - Halifax Courier

Reportage - 10:26
'Come to Elland to see knuckledusters, guns and nunchucks' - the parallel world of gangland Calderdale - Halifax Courier: "Elland Mad Dogs and the Lee Mount Loonies – just two of Calderdale's street gangs revealed in a new book about the murky world of violent Britain
STARTLING claims about the extent of gang warfare and gun crime in Calderdale have been made in a new book.
Steve Hackman, author of Young Guns: Inside the Violent World of Britain's Street Gangs, says he has identified eight different street gangs operating in and around Halifax.
It stems from his experiences in Armley Jail, Leeds, where he experienced intense rivalaries among inmates not only from different parts of Yorkshire – 'to prove whose area was the 'hardest' – but also fierce territorial competition from prisoners within towns themselves"

Three held over man’s abduction from home - Northern Ireland, Local & National - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Reportage - 01:03
Three held over man’s abduction from home - Northern Ireland, Local & National - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk: "Three people are being held by police investigating the kidnapping of a man in Co Antrim.
Mark Thompson (35) spent almost 24 hours in the boot of his car during the terrifying hostage ordeal.
He was abducted from his home at Kemmil Hill, Randalstown, last Thursday after returning from walking his dog when three masked men who were armed with knives and sticks confronted him.
The victim was threatened and bundled into his silver BMW, then driven around while the gang tried unsuccessfully to extort money from his family.
He was released unharmed at about 1am on Friday close to the north Antrim village of Armoy."

Lancashire police sergeant's double life exposed

Reportage - 00:06
BBC News - Lancashire police sergeant's double life exposed: "what his work mates, and the public he had served for nine years, did not know was that he had been living a double life.
When he took his uniform off, the 33-year-old was a member of a criminal gang.
His brother Hafiz had been a major player in a Preston gang, members of which were jailed for the kidnap of a man, Mohammed Beg, in the city in 2008.
And while Hafiz, 25, was on remand in prison, his older brother stepped in to his role.
'Hafiz was the gang's enforcer."

Sunday 7 November 2010

list of body parts belonging to murder victims and held by all UK police forces is being created for the first time

Reportage - 23:11
list of body parts belonging to murder victims and held by all UK police forces is being created for the first time, it has emerged.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) expects the nationwide audit to be completed in April 2011.

Forces in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are all taking part in the exercise.

The samples have been kept for investigative purposes, Acpo said.
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