APPENDIX 3
Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Police Service Northern Ireland
I am writing in response to your letter of 17
April addressed to ACC Raymond White as his successor, Raymond
having retired on 30 April.
1. ANOMALIES
WITHIN THE
LAW
Prior to retirement Raymond did, however, have
time to consider your letter in light of his evidence to the Committee
into the financing of terrorism in Northern Ireland, and suggested
the following form of words for an aggravated offence in respect
of extortion (blackmail) offences thus;
"Any demand made whereby the victim perceives,
or believes, that demand is made by or on behalf of a paramilitary
group or allied organisation or where any demand is made in which
the name of such group or organisation is so implied by virtue
of the geographical area in which the victim resides or conducts
their business."
The aspect of sentencing could adequately be
addressed by the court within the maximum penalty currently provided
for under Section 20 of the Theft Act (NI) 1969 (Blackmail)—ie
14 years—with appropriate cognizance given to the aggravated
element of the offence.
2. ORGANISED
CRIME TASK
FORCE
As you are aware, today (23 May) is the launch
date for Year 2 of the Organised Crime Task Force Strategy. I
appreciate that you have not yet received either the public or
in-house publications relating thereto, and which contains much
in the way of statistics which you were seeking in addition to
those already supplied by the NIO (in turn received from the PSNI).
Reference to those documents, especially the latter (the report
of the sub-group of the OCTF) would be, I believe, most beneficial.
You will, I am sure, be pleased to know that
the new head of the Organised Crime Task Force (OCTF), D/Chief
Superintendent Raymond Leinster, has already commenced work to
ensure that there is a central statistical collection point under
his command which will be both dynamic and responsive to future
requests for data.
C C K Albiston
Assistant Chief Constable
23 May 2002
SUCCESSES AGAINST ORGANISED CRIME
(a) PSNI
Quantity and value of goods seized.
DRUGS
FY 2001-02
— Drugs Squad undertook 177 operations
— These operations resulted in 81 arrests
— The following amounts of drugs were
seized
| Drug Type | Amount Seized
| Street Value |
| Cannabis | 406 kgs | £4,060,000
|
| Cocaine | 3 kgs | £238,095
|
| Heroin | 18.5 g | £1,850
|
| Ecstasy | 112,942 tablets |
£1,129,420 |
| Amphetamine | 7 kgs | £49,000
|
| Total | | £5,478,365
|
COUNTERFEIT GOODS
| Type of goods | Number of items seized
|
| Music CDs/MP3/cassettes | 29,564
|
| Videos/DVDs/VCDs | 28,795
|
| Playstation/Dreamcast games | 28,000
|
| Clothing | 22,486
|
| Computer software | 6,550
|
| Perfume/sunglasses etc | 5,560
|
| Computers/video recorders/photocopiers |
178 |
Total value approximately £4,000,000.
Quantity of cash seized or held in bank accounts.
In 2001, four restraint orders were applied for by PSNI.
During the same period, £318,771 was ordered to be confiscated.
(b) Customs
TOBACCO SMUGGLING
As part of the national anti-tobacco smuggling strategy,
enforcement activity in Northern Ireland has increased. Recent
operational successes in Northern Ireland include:
— 350,000 cigarettes in air passenger traffic from
Tenerife;
— 30 million cigarettes in two seizures by Republic
of Ireland agencies following close co-operation between UK Customs,
and Republic of Ireland agencies;
— 2 million cigarettes in freight traffic from Rotterdam;
— 1.5 million cigarettes from two national strikeforce
exercises targeting air passengers smuggling; and
— 43 million cigarettes seized at Warrenpoint in
freight traffic from Eastern Europe.
HYDROCARBON OILS
SMUGGLING AND
FRAUD
Customs' enhancement of resources dedicated to tackling oils
fraud has resulted in an increase in enforcement activity, including:
— sentencing of a man from County Armagh to two
and a half years in prison for his role in a major fuel smuggling
operation. His criminal activities resulted in the evasion of
more than £6 million.
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