Memorandum submitted by the Serious Organised
Crime Agency (SOCA)
SUMMARY OF
KEY POINTS
— SOCA activity in the UK and overseas
with international partners is making a real difference to cocaine
availability, purity and price in the UK.— There is evidence
of pressure on the production and supply of high quality cocaine.
Regular shortages of this product are reported in the UK. This
has forced wholesale prices up and has encouraged cutting with
contaminants to meet demand.
— There is evidence to suggest that a "multi-tiered"
cocaine market now exists.
— Cocaine arrives at the UK frontier with
an average purity of 65%. Substantial evidence has now been collected
to show that cocaine distributed within the UK at 25-50g (dealer
level) has reduced significantly in purity in recent months and
rarely contains more than 20% cocaine hydrochloride. Indications
are that cocaine sold at street level can often be as low as 5%
purity, and in some cases 0%.
— A substantial trade in pharmaceutical
cutting agents has emerged in the UK. These products are used
to dilute the powder and crack cocaine.
— Appendix A to this paper is the relevant
section of the non-protectively marked version of the UK Threat
Assessment.
BACKGROUND
1. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA)
is an intelligence-led law enforcement agency with harm reduction
responsibilities. Harm in this context is the damage caused to
individuals, communities, society and the UK as a whole by serious
organised crime. SOCA's functions are set out in the Serious Organised
Crime and Police Act 2005 and (in relation to civil recovery functions)
in the Serious Crime Act 2007. The Home Secretary has defined
SOCA's priorities as Class A drug trafficking, organised immigration
crime, fraud and firearms.
2. Under the Serious Organised Crime and
Police Act 2005, the Home Secretary may set SOCA strategic priorities.
In June 2005 the priorities set by then Home Secretary included
that Class A drugs and organised immigration crime, in that order,
should be its top priorities.
SOCA'S ROLE:
UK THREAT ASSESSMENT
OF ORGANISED
CRIME AND
THE CONTROL
STRATEGY
3. SOCA produces, on behalf of UK law enforcement
and other agencies and departments concerned with tackling the
problem of organised crime, the United Kingdom Threat Assessment
of Organised Crime (UKTA). This sets out and assesses the threats
posed to the UK by organised criminals and is intended to inform
UK law enforcement priorities for tackling organised crime.
4. Key assessments in The UKTA for 2009-10[62]
include the following:
— an estimated 65-70% of the UK's identified
cocaine supply is believed to be produced in Colombia, or in the
border areas neighbouring Venezuela and Ecuador. Peru and Bolivia
account for the vast majority of the remaining 30-35%.
— British organised crime groups based
in Spain and the Netherlands dominate the supply of cocaine from
the EU to the UK. The Iberian Peninsula, particularly Spain is
the most important entry point into Europe for cocaine.
5. In addition to the annual UK Threat Assessment,
during 2008-09 SOCA produced 60 detailed assessments and reports
dealing with aspects of drug trafficking, including the cocaine
trade, in order to improve understanding amongst Control Strategy
partners and to stimulate appropriate operational activity.
6. The UK's response to the threats identified
in the UKTA is set out in the UK Organised Crime Control Strategy
(the Control Strategy). The overarching aim of the Control Strategy
is to achieve a tangible and lasting reduction in the harm caused
to the UK by organised crime. It consists of 16 programmes of
activity; each programme has its own multi-agency action plan,
deliverables and governance arrangements.
7. The Cocaine Trade is principally addressed
by three programmes of activity, all of which are led by SOCA.
These are:
Programme 9—The "upstream"
cocaine trade. The aim of this programme is to reduce the
harm caused to the UK by the cocaine trade focussing on the "upstream"
elements.
Programme 10—Drugs trafficking from
the EU to the UK, including synthetic drugs. The aim of this
programme is to reduce the harm caused to the UK by drugs trafficking
(including cocaine) from the EU. The focus is on Spain and The
Netherlands as key nexus points.
Programme 11—The illegal drugs trade
in the UK. The aim of this programme is to dislocate and deter
people involved in the illegal drugs trade in the UK making the
UK a hostile environment for those involved.
8. Within this framework, SOCA works closely
with domestic partners such as ACPO, ACPOS, HMRC and UKBA as well
as international partners within the EU and beyond, to deliver
a co-ordinated and concerted response to the cocaine trade. At
31 March 2009 SOCA had over 340 operations, projects and enquiries
in hand against drug trafficking groups and activities, the primary
focus of approximately half of which was the cocaine trade.
SOCA'S ROLE:
MARKET TRENDS
9. There is evidence that the efforts of
SOCA and its domestic and overseas partners have made a discernible
difference to cocaine accessibility, purity and price during the
last year. A two-tier market has emerged, which supplies high
priced, purer cocaine on the one hand, and a cheaper, heavily
bulked product on the other. Forensic evidence and intelligence
obtained by SOCA over the past year identified the following:
— intelligence reporting from wholesale
dealers of upstream supply difficulties resulting in shortages
of cocaine this side of the Atlantic and in the United States;
— domestic shortages of cocaine reported
at Christmas 2008 a normal period for high use and continuing
into 2009;
— an increase in the wholesale price of
cocaine from approximately £32,000 per kilo in early 2008
to £45,000 per kilo in March 2009. While some of this rise
was due to the weakness of sterling which has had an impact upon
European sourced cocaine there were also parallel notable price
rises for purchases made in Euros in continental Europe;
— evidence that the purity of cocaine sold
within the UK in amounts of 20 to 50g had reduced significantly
since the summer of 2008 and was rarely found to be more than
20% cocaine hydrochloride. The purity level was often as little
as 5%, while some examples seized contained no cocaine at all;
and
— significant adulteration of one kilo
blocks was also found to be taking place. Wholesale dealers in
the UK and Europe mix and "reblock" the cocaine to conceal
the reduced purity levels.
10. SOCA's analysis of the cocaine market
led to the identification of three areas of particular vulnerability:
— production in South America where SOCA
has concentrated its effort on high-value targets and close collaboration
with overseas law enforcement partners;
— in transit from South America through
Europe where the targeting of bulk shipments in transit can create
uncertainty in the market and successful interdiction can cause
significant cash flow problems for the organised crime groups;
and
— within the UK, where the use of bulking
agents present law enforcement the opportunity to reduce the availability
of the preferred cutting chemicals, reducing profitability to
the trade.
SOCA'S ROLE:
FORENSICS
11. A SOCA initiative, known as Project
Endorse, began in October 2008 to subject to full forensic examination
all UK seizures of heroin, cocaine (including crack) and amphetamine
above 25g. A number of smaller seizures were also analysed. This
was the first time that the comprehensive testing of UK drug seizures
had been attempted and the project was supported by all UK law
enforcement agencies and forensic providers. It examined and compared
physical appearance, chemical profiles and chemical composition.
12. The results have been of direct operational
value, identifying links between over 170 law enforcement seizures
that were not previously known to be connected. They also provided
information about the current nature of the UK drugs market, showing
for cocaine:
— that the purity of cocaine seized within
the UK was typically less than 20%, and in some cases as low as
5%, raising questions about its alleged ready availability;
— that crack was heavily adulterated, most
commonly with phenacetin, a known carcinogen; and
— powder cocaine was heavily adulterated
with benzocaine or lignocaine, un-controlled anaesthetics with
veterinary, dental and other uses.
13. As well as assisting SOCA and other
UK agencies, the results were shared with international partners
via Europol to support SOCA's operational efforts upstream. Links
with suppliers elsewhere in Europe were detected.
SOCA's role: Upstream work with international
partners in producer and transit countries
14. In 2008-09, SOCA intelligence, operations
and forensic support led to the successful interdiction of:
— 85.1 tonnes of cocaine;
— the location and destruction of 58 tonnes
and 326,000 litres of cocaine in production;
— 118 tonnes and over 740,000 litres of
precursor chemicals used to manufacture cocaine;
— the arrest of several high level traffickers
including heads of major cartel groups; and
— the disruption of light aircraft flights
carrying cocaine from South America to West Africa.
SOCA'S ROLE:
CUTTING AGENTS
15. SOCA Project KITLEY aims to identify
the procurement, distribution and users of the cutting agents
principally used by UK dealers to bulk up the cocaine, and by
doing so exploiting the vulnerability of dealers involved in such
adulteration.
16. Project KITLEY led to the following:
— the seizure by SOCA of 15 tonnes of cutting
agent or, had it been used as an adulterant, the equivalent of
a minimum of 30 tonnes of "cocaine" on the streets;
— the arrest by SOCA and charging of a
crime group believed to be the main supplier of cutting agents
in the North of England and Scotland; and
—
Police arrests, seizures and related activity in
many different parts of the UK on 72 occasions as a direct result
of SOCA's work.
17. This work not only led to the arrest
of dealers and the seizure of equipment, but also had an impact
on the availability of some of the preferred "cutting"
chemicals and a consequent impact on the potential profitability
of the trade for domestic trafficking groups and the use of Serious
Crime Prevention Orders.
18. SOCA Project KITLEY is now developing
knowledge about the emerging trade in pharmaceutical cutting agents,
and how it may be curbed through the use of a range of interventions
including potential regulatory changes.
SOCA'S ROLE:
MULTI-AGENCY
ACTIVITY
19. SOCA contributes to the multi-agency
UK Drugs Nexus Group which is a forum for informing and developing
ACPO/ACPOS drugs enforcement policy. This group continues to develop
a "strategic" approach to drugs, having successfully
promoted several tactical initiatives including, SOCA Projects
KITLEY, and ENDORSE.
20. Notifications of seizures—HMRC/UKBA
notify SOCA of significant drugs seizures within an agreed framework.
SOCA undertakes systematic checks on every notification. It responds
to HMRC/UKBA with options for action within two hours of the notification.
Those which are not adopted for full operational activity by SOCA
are progressed by HMRC/UKBA. Where the opportunity can be progressed
and is in relation to: an individual that SOCA has a defined interest
in; a significant seizure; or links to a specific research project,
SOCA will task operational activity subject to capacity considerations.
June 2009
62 The relevant section of the non-protectively marked
version of the UKTA is attached as Appendix A. Back
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