National Crime Agency (NCA)

Home News Coach driver tried to smuggle cocaine on children’s school bus Return to News 11 March 2016 A man who acted as a courier for a Romanian organised crime group has been given a 17 year prison sentence for attempting to smuggle cocaine with a potential value of £18 million on a bus taking schoolchildren on a trip to London. Acting on intelligence supplied by the National Crime Agency, Border Force officers carried out a search of the vehicle as it arrived into Dover on 6 June 2015. They discovered around 130 tape-wrapped packages of drugs in a specially adapted area behind a false bulkhead in the luggage compartment. A panel covering the drugs had been scr…

Return to News 10 March 2016 A north-west based organised crime group which used a flower wholesale business in Lancashire as cover for an illegal drug and gun running operation has been dismantled by the NCA and the Dutch National Crime Squad. The network smuggled cocaine, heroin, MDMA, amphetamine, cannabis, firearms and ammunition from the continent in lorries through the Channel ports into the UK to their depot in Accrington. The drugs would then be sold on to dealers across the UK The head of the group, Dutch national Mohammed Imran Bhegani, 40, was today (Thursday 10 March) sentenced to 36 years in prison. His right hand man Sajid Osman, 44, was jailed for 26 yea…

Return to News8 March 2016 Nine men suspected of committing murder, rape and drug trafficking offences are among Britain’s most wanted fugitives believed to be hiding in the Netherlands. The men feature in the latest appeal to be launched under Operation Return - a National Crime Agency and Crimestoppers initiative to track down fugitives who have fled the country. David Ungi, aged 24, from Liverpool, and Shane O’Brien, aged 28, from London, who are wanted in connection with separate murders, have been added to the most wanted list along with alleged drug traffickers David Walley, aged 40, and Shazad Ghafoor, aged 29, who are both from Manchester, and Ahmed Omer, aged …

Home News South Wales drug dealers jailed after cash and £1m cocaine seizure Return to News 4 March 2016 Two members of an organised crime group (OCG) from South Wales have been sentenced today to 16 years in prison for money laundering and conspiring to supply cocaine with an estimated street value in excess of £1.2 million. Martyn Pagett, aged 31, from Blaina, South Wales (below right) and Neil Strange, aged 61, formerly of Blaina but now living in Paignton, Devon, (below left) were arrested in Bristol on 19 August 2014 by officers from the Wales branch of the National Crime Agency. Officers seized approximately £125,000 in cash from the scene. NCA investiga…

Home News More arrests in NI following PSNI/NCA investigation into CSE Return to News Nine more people have been arrested in Northern Ireland following a week of action against those accessing indecent images of children online. A joint operation between the National Crime Agency and the Police Service of Northern Ireland has been the result of proactive targeting of potential indecent image offenders. Officers from both the PSNI and NCA have been involved in a search and arrest operation across Northern Ireland. As well as the nine arrests, steps were taken to safeguard a number of children. A number of items have been seized for further forensic examination. Char…

Return to News One of the Silk Road’s most renowned British vendors and his business partner have been sentenced to a total of ten years after an NCA investigation uncovered the buying and selling of a catalogue of illegal drugs, including crack cocaine and methamphetamine. The pair publically claimed they were running a legitimate business selling legal highs. Peter Ward, a self-proclaimed ‘psychonaut’, was known online as PlutoPete. His business specialised in supplying military-grade foil packaging that claimed to hide illegal materials from detection. He also provided new psychoactive substances, commonly referred to as legal highs, and drug paraphernalia. Ward was …

Home News Three alleged drug traffickers arrested in Bradford Return to News 22 February 2016 Iftikar Khan (33), of Baring Avenue, Bradford, was arrested on 20 February 2016 when officers from the NCA’s Armed Operations Unit observed him loading a holdall into the boot of his vehicle on Quarry Street. When the vehicle was stopped and searched in Canal Road, Bradford, 30 kilos of Class A drugs were seized. Forensic examination revealed the haul was made up of 21 kilos of heroin, four kilos of cocaine and five kilos that consisted of a mix of heroin, cocaine and cutting agents. Khan was taken to Bradford Police Station where he was later charged with conspiracy to s…

Return to News19 February 2015 Eight criminal associates of alleged international drug trafficker Robert Dawes were jailed today. A National Crime Agency investigation into the men began when 1.3 tonnes of cocaine were seized in September 2013 by the French authorities, hidden in suitcases on an Air France flight from Venezuela’s capital Caracas to Paris. NCA officers worked with the French OCRTIS and other international law enforcement agencies to identify the crime groups behind the shipment, suspecting it had been arranged by Robert Dawes, who is originally from Nottinghamshire. Evidence led to his arrest in November 2015 by the Guardia Civil at his villa in Benalma…

Return to News18 February 2016 Six people have been arrested in Spain after series of violent incidents between organised crime groups in Salford. The Spanish National Police with support from Greater Manchester Police and the National Crime Agency launched dawn raids and arrested four men and a woman in Marbella, in the Costa Del Sol, Spain. On Tuesday 16 February 2016 three men from Salford, aged, 28, 25 and 20 were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, possession of a firearm and membership of an organised crime group. The 20 year old man was also wanted on a European Arrest Warrant by Greater Manchester Police for possession of class A drugs and cou…

Return to News18 February 2016 A man responsible for a violent attack outside a pub in Greater Manchester in 2008 has been arrested in Hungary. Thomas Tooth, 32, from Middleton, was detained on a European Arrest Warrant in Badacsonytoma on 15 February as a result of a joint operation involving the Hungarian Police, the National Crime Agency and Greater Manchester Police. The victim of the attack at The Angel Public House in Royton was left with permanent eye damage and Tooth, who absconded, was convicted in his absence of unlawful wounding. He later featured in the Operation Return fugitive campaign as he spent time in the Netherlands while on the run. Extradition pro…

Home News Two arrested in Glasgow after Teesport drugs seizure Return to News 12 February 2016 Two men have been arrested by the National Crime Agency in Glasgow in connection with the seizure of huge haul of class A and B drugs. The consignment, which included 24 kilos of cocaine, 16 kilos of heroin, 144 kilos of cannabis resin and 12 kilos of herbal cannabis was discovered by Border Force officers carrying out checks at the port of Teesport on 29 January. The drugs had a likely potential street value in excess of £2.3 million. NCA investigators raided a property in the Yoker area of Glasgow on Wednesday 10 February and arrested two men, aged 32 and 38. They…

The National Crime Agency, National Police Chiefs Council and HM Revenue and Customs submitted a joint law enforcement response to the Joint Committee on the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill. You can read the full response here - In summary, it states that: Law enforcement welcomes the Government's commitment to clarify and update the law in this vital area of activity. The Bill aims to streamline and update the legislation for law enforcement powers in the areas of communications data, equipment interference and lawful intercept, reinforcing transparency and oversight. We use these powers of investigation to protect the public, preserve life and prevent and detect cri…

Home News Merseyside fugitive arrested in Belgium Return to News 9 February 2016 Suspected drug trafficker Scott Hughes who featured in the Operation Captura most wanted fugitives campaign has been arrested in Belgium. Hughes, aged 35, from Halewood, was captured following a joint operation between the National Crime Agency, Belgian Federal Police and Merseyside Police. He was travelling from Dubai to Belgium using a fraudulent passport, and was stopped upon arrival at Brussels Airport yesterday. Extradition proceedings are now underway. Hughes is wanted by Merseyside Police for allegedly being a member of a Liverpool-based organised crime group involved in the…

Return to News 9 February 2016 Three members of a drug-smuggling crime group who flew millions of pounds worth of cocaine into the UK have been given prison sentences totalling 66 years. An investigation by the National Crime Agency began after Border Force staff examined a light aircraft which had landed at Breighton Aerodrome near Selby on Monday 17 November 2014. In the plane and in the boot of a Porsche Cayenne parked next to it they discovered bags and suitcases loaded with 34 kilos of cocaine. If cut and sold in the UK the drugs would have had a potential likely street value of £5 million. Pilot Andrew Wright (pictured above, centre), 52, from Barlow in North…

Return to News 7 February 2016 There has been a six-fold increase in reports of online-dating related rape offences over a 5 year period, according to NCA analysts. The NCA’s Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS), which supports police investigations into serious sexual assaults committed by strangers, identified an increase in the number of people that were raped during their first face-to-face meeting following initial contact through an online dating website or app. The number of reports rose from 33 in 2009 to 184 in 2014, which is double the number of rapes reviewed by SCAS involving bogus taxis. 85% of the victims are women and 15% are men. Of the men, 25% of vi…