National Crime Agency (NCA)

Return to News30 March 2017 A drug dealer has been sent back to prison and given an additional two year sentence after being caught flying back to the UK from Spain on a false passport. Matthew Whaley, 41, originally from Holloway in London, was detained by the National Crime Agency at Birmingham Airport on 24 February. He was travelling on a fraudulently obtained genuine British passport carrying the name of Kevin Benson. NCA officers working on a separate investigation found evidence that the Benson document was false and added it to a watch list, ensuring that the authorities would be alerted the next time it was used to attempt travel to the UK. Whaley was arrest…

Return to News 31 March 2017 Two drug traffickers have been jailed following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA). Albanians Erbline Hoxhaj, 27 (pictured top) and Besjan Mustafaj, 23, (pictured below) were handed sentences at Birmingham Crown Court today of 9 years 4 months and 5 years 8 months in prison. Hoxhaj had been watched by NCA officers in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham getting in to the back of a white Audi A6 empty-handed before leaving with a black Adidas rucksack. He returned to his white Peugeot Bipper van and drove away. Officers stopped and arrested him at the junction of Cannon Hill and Edgbaston Road. On seizing his rucksack, off…

Home News Port workers charged over alleged drug conspiracy Return to News 30 March 2017 Four former workers from the Port of Tilbury have been charged with conspiring to import cocaine. The four were arrested by National Crime Agency officers in June 2016, following an investigation into a number of drug importations alleged to have gone through the port between February and July 2015. They answered bail yesterday. Dean Pogmore, 42, from Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, Brett Toogood, 25, from Grays, Essex, Gary Walker, 32, from Grays and Peter Simmons, 39, from East Tilbury have all been bailed to appear before Basildon Magistrates on 4 May. Toogood is additionally c…

Return to News29 March 2017 The suspected head of an organised crime group involved in drug trafficking, VAT fraud and money laundering was one of six people arrested yesterday as part of an international multi-agency operation. James Mulvey, aged 40, who is originally from Solihull, was apprehended in Lithuania on a European Arrest Warrant following an investigation by the National Crime Agency, the West Midlands Regional Asset Recovery Team and HM Revenue and Customs. NCA officers worked closely with the Financial Crime Investigation Service in Lithuania to locate Mulvey who was then arrested by armed officers from the Lithuanian Police at a house in Kaunas. Two ball…

Home News Gatwick rail station drugs bust ends in prison sentences for smugglers Return to News 28 March 2017 Two men have been jailed after a National Crime Agency surveillance operation led to the seizure of almost two kilos of cocaine at Gatwick airport rail station. Acting on intelligence NCA investigators, working in co-operation with Border Force staff, trailed Orville Campbell (below right), 50, and Hugh Barrington Wilson (below left), 60, as they stepped off a flight from St Lucia on 12 July 2016. The two men stayed apart as they went through the airport, but reunited at the station. Officers moved in to arrest the pair before they could board a train,…

Home News Statement from NCA DG Lynne Owens on Westminster incident Return to News 22 March 2017 I know I speak for every one at the NCA when I say that it is with utter shock and despair that we saw the stark tragedy of this afternoon’s events unfold. Our hearts go out to all the victims – the loved ones of those who died, and the innocent people so terribly injured. As law enforcement officers we hold a particular place in our thoughts for the police officer who has made the ultimate sacrifice - simply for protecting the public. We share the same values and work to the same mission of public service. To die doing this is beyond believe, and beyond thanks. Police…

Return to News22 March 2017 A man who used a tailor-made concealment in the roof of his Bentley to smuggle cocaine into the UK and cash out, has been found guilty along with two others at Blackfriars Crown Court. They join four already convicted for the drug trafficking conspiracy following an investigation by the joint NCA and Met Police Organised Crime Partnership (OCP). Florentino Gonzales, 48, used an underground car park at the Marlin Apartments, Southwark, to meet London based dealers and exchange the smuggled drugs for cash. The group was under surveillance by OCP officers when Gonzales parked up in his Bentley and met with Armand Cuni, 39, and Edwin Abazi, 31,…

Home News NCA statement on the Laundromat money laundering scheme Return to News 21 March 2017 The Laundromat case saw the involvement of a number of companies established in the UK. Information at the time indicated that the bank accounts involved were almost entirely held in non-UK jurisdictions, and that the money therefore generally did not move through the UK’s financial system. The ‘Laundromat’ reflects a typology where money launderers establish a company in one jurisdiction, but its bank accounts are opened in another. The launderers exploit the distance and legal barriers between the two, whilst being able to control both the company and the bank accounts …

Home News Second member of “chicken run” drug network convicted Return to News 20 March 2017 A second man has today (Monday 20 March) been jailed for being part of a family-run business which imported large quantities of MDMA and other controlled drugs from the Netherlands, hidden in loads of frozen chicken. National Crime Agency officers arrested Gordon Ruckledge, 45, at his home in Taunton Road, Ashton-Under-Lyne, in September 2016. As they searched his house and car investigators found more than a thousand ecstasy tablets, a kilo of high purity cocaine and approximately two thousand pills labelled as temazepam and tramadol, both class C drugs, as well as arou…

Return to News17 March 2017 A bank employee from Manchester has been given a prison sentence after admitting a series of child abuse offences. Andrew Dent (below right), 35, was arrested in October 2015 after his employers found indecent images of children on one of their computers. They passed information on to the National Crime Agency’s CEOP Command, who raided his home in Stuart Street, Clayton. Investigators found Dent to be in possession of a number of extreme images and videos of child sexual abuse, which included him engaging in sexual activity with a child. Computers belonging to his partner Brett Cuthbert, 21, were also seized and found to contain indecent …

Home News Boat skipper convicted over £80m cocaine cargo Return to News 16 March 2017 The skipper of a fishing boat has today (Thursday 16 March) been convicted of trying to smuggle more than a tonne of cocaine into the UK. Michael McDermott, 68, from Waterford in Ireland, was found guilty by a jury at Bristol Crown Court following a one week trial. National Crime Agency and Border Force officers arrested McDermott on 18 August 2016 alongside shipmates David Pleasants, 57, and Gerald Van de Kooij, 27. Two Border Force cutters, the HMC Seeker and HMC Searcher had tracked his vessel the MV Bianca via radar for over 24 hours, acting on intelligence from the NCA t…

Return to News16 March 2017 A Dutch man has been sentenced to serve more than ten years in prison after being found guilty of blackmailing and grooming more than 20 UK children into sharing indecent images and videos of themselves online. Aydin Coban, aged 38, from the Tilburg area in the Netherlands, was charged in April 2014 by the Dutch National Police with a number of offences including indecent assault, the production and dissemination of child abuse material, fraud and computer intrusion, following an investigation which started in the UK. In September 2013, the National Crime Agency’s CEOP Command received information from a social networking site about an indiv…

Return to News 16 March 2017 The inaugural Blue Lights Digital Intelligence and Investigations awards, held yesterday, featured several NCA teams and officers being recognised for their pioneering work. The awards celebrate excellence, innovation and progress across law enforcement, in addition to notable achievements in the fields of digital investigation and cyber capability. The NCA received seven nominations, and three awards in their respective categories. Two officers won in the categories of 'Intelligent use of Forensic Triage in a Complex Investigation' and 'Use of Big Data Analysis in a Complex Investigation,' while the CEOP Forensics Team won in the c…

Return to News14 March 2017 The annual assessment of the biggest cyber threats to UK businesses has been published today, after being produced jointly for the first time by the National Crime Agency (NCA), National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and industry partners from multiple sectors. The pdf assessment (3.58 MB) - the most detailed of its kind to date - emphasises the need for increased collaboration between industry, government and law enforcement in the face of a growing and fast-changing threat. The report discusses the trend of criminals imitating the way suspected nation state actors attack organisations such as financial institutions, and the risk posed by th…

Home News Contractor downloaded child abuse images on hotel wifi as he travelled for work Return to News 10 March 2017 A contractor who used hotel wi-fi to download abuse images has been jailed following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA). Alexander Paterson, 33, was given a two-year suspended prison sentence at Preston Crown Court yesterday. He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sexual offenders register for ten years. NCA officers arrested the construction worker in the car park of a hotel in Carnforth, Lancashire in May 2016. The hotel was one of several whose wi-fi Paterson used to download indecent im…