National Crime Agency (NCA)

Home News UK's Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce arrest man suspected of murder and people smuggling Return to News 29 January 2016 A man suspected of murder and of having a leading role in a people smuggling network has been arrested as part of a joint operation between the UK’s Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce and the Belgian Federal Police. Ukrainian national Marian Shkirko, 33, was arrested by National Crime Agency officers who executed two European Arrest Warrants at an address in Battersea, South West London. He has been detained and is expected to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court tomorrow (Saturday 30 January) where extradition proceedings wil…

Home News UK fugitives among Europe's most wanted Return to News 29 January 2016 The National Crime Agency (NCA) has today added two fugitives to a new website dedicated to tracing Europe’s Most Wanted individuals. Launched today, the site will include appeals for information on Derek McGraw Ferguson (below left), who is wanted by Police Scotland in connection with the June 2007 murder of Thomas Cameron at the Auchinairn Tavern, Bishopbriggs near Glasgow, and Arủnas Garšva (below right), a Lithuanian national wanted by West Yorkshire Police for attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. The website - www.eumostwanted.eu - has been created by t…

Return to News26 January 2016 Trevor Monk from Erith, Kent, has been sentenced to 19 years and 6 months in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting children in the Philippines. He was arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency’s CEOP Command in March 2015 on suspicion of paying for the live-streaming of child abuse from the Philippines. Officers seized numerous media devices from Monk’s home address, including an external hard drive and two computer tower units. They discovered 80,758 indecent images of children (IIOC) and 1,757 indecent videos of children, including category A-C. Monk was re-arrested in November when further forensic examination of…

Return to News26 January 2016 Trevor Monk from Erith, Kent, has been sentenced to 19 years and 6 months in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting children in the Philippines. He was arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency’s CEOP Command in March 2015 on suspicion of paying for the live-streaming of child abuse from the Philippines. Officers seized numerous media devices from Monk’s home address, including an external hard drive and two computer tower units. They discovered 80,758 indecent images of children (IIOC) and 1,757 indecent videos of children, including category A-C. Monk was re-arrested in November when further forensic examination of…

Return to News22 January 2016 A Milton Keynes man who paid for the live-streaming of child abuse from the Philippines and collected thousands of indecent images has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Thomas James Fairley, aged 43, from Bletchley, had previously admitted eight charges of child sexual abuse. Fairley was arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency’s CEOP Command in March 2015, on suspicion of paying for indecent images of children and inciting sexual activity with children from the Philippines. During a search of his home, investigators recovered several electronic devices including two laptops and one desktop computer, which conta…

Return to News22 January 2016 A Milton Keynes man who paid for the live-streaming of child abuse from the Philippines and collected thousands of indecent images has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Thomas James Fairley, aged 43, from Bletchley, had previously admitted eight charges of child sexual abuse. Fairley was arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency’s CEOP Command in March 2015, on suspicion of paying for indecent images of children and inciting sexual activity with children from the Philippines. During a search of his home, investigators recovered several electronic devices including two laptops and one desktop computer, which conta…

Home News Dark web gun buyer sentenced to six years Return to News 15 January 2016 A man who tried to buy live weapons and ammunition via the dark web has been sentenced to six years after pleading guilty at Birmingham Crown Court to importing and possessing firearms. Montgomery Richard Kyle Byrne (31) from Bury was arrested at the M6 Stafford Services by officers from the National Crime Agency’s Armed Operations Unit in August 2015. At the time of his arrest, Byrne was attempting to hand over £1,300 for a live fire Glock 9mm self loading pistol and 300 rounds of ammunition bought from a site on the dark web. He had tried to buy an AK47 assault rifle from the sa…

Home News Dark web gun buyer sentenced to six years Return to News 15 January 2016 A man who tried to buy live weapons and ammunition via the dark web has been sentenced to six years after pleading guilty at Birmingham Crown Court to importing and possessing firearms. Montgomery Richard Kyle Byrne (31) from Bury was arrested at the M6 Stafford Services by officers from the National Crime Agency’s Armed Operations Unit in August 2015. At the time of his arrest, Byrne was attempting to hand over £1,300 for a live fire Glock 9mm self loading pistol and 300 rounds of ammunition bought from a site on the dark web. He had tried to buy an AK47 assault rifle from the sa…

Home News Offshore money launderer to hand over more than £4.75m in criminal profits Return to News 14 January 2016 A specialist money launderer who attempted to "receive and wash" the proceeds of a German bank fraud committed nearly 15 years ago has been ordered by the court to handover £4,752,499.27. Herbert Charles Austin, 66, of Barnsbury Road in Islington, was sentenced to five years 251 days in December 2011 for being the mastermind of an organised crime group who conspired to launder more than £12m stolen from Commerzbank in 2000. The Judge ruled on Monday 11 January 2016 that Austin must pay more than £4.7million of the money back within 12 months to Commer…

Home News Fourth arrest in international drug smuggling investigation Return to News 13 January 2016 A man from Chorlton in Manchester has been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to smuggle class A and B drugs into the UK. The 28-year-old was detained on suspicion of conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis by officers from the National Crime Agency on Tuesday 12 January in the Manchester area. The investigation follows the attempted importation of around 10 kilos of cocaine and 10 kilos of cannabis in August 2014. The drugs, with a potential street value of around £1.3 million, were found by customs officers in Germany in boxes to be shipped to the U…

Home News Suspected people smugglers arrested Return to News 7 January 2016 Two men accused of being part of a people smuggling network responsible for smuggling up to 20 migrants a night into the UK have been arrested as part of an operation co-ordinated by the National Crime Agency. The men, aged 33 and 37 and both Iraqi nationals, were detained on European Arrest Warrants at separate addresses in Eccles, Salford and Bordesley Green, Birmingham today (Thursday 7 January). Officers from Greater Manchester and West Midlands Police supported the operations. The pair are wanted by the authorities in Belgium and are now expected to appear before Westminster Magist…

Home News Tracked down after more than six years – most wanted suspect arrested in Greece Return to News 29 December 2015 One of the UK’s most wanted men has been arrested in Greece, following a joint investigation involving the National Crime Agency and Hellenic Police. Simon Dutton, 39, was wanted for allegedly being part of a north west-based organised crime network who tried to smuggle cocaine worth around £1.6 million into Britain. The drugs were seized as part of an operation which saw a “cocaine factory” raided in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in September 2009. Dutton, originally from Bolton, faces drug importation, drug supply and money laundering cha…

Home News Hospital radiographer had hundreds of thousands of child abuse images Return to News 22 December 2015 A man who was found to have hundreds of thousands of indecent images and videos of children on his computer has been jailed for two years and four months. Christopher Daldorph, 45, of West Wick in Weston-Super-Mare was arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency in April 2015. During a search of his home investigators recovered a large number of electronic devices including computers and external hard drives, many containing indecent imagery of children which he had sourced from the internet, including the dark web. One of the hard drives whic…

Return to News23 December 2015 A Belfast man has today been ordered by a Judge to attend a two year Sexual Offenders Programme after he pleaded guilty to 11 counts of making an indecent photograph of a child. Forensic examinations of computers held by 45 year old Morris Johnston showed he had 43 picture files and five video files ranging from levels 1-4. Sentencing Johnston, HHJ Kerr stated that this case would have necessitated a one year sentence. In light of the fact that Johnston has been in custody for 6 months, he considered this to be his custodial sentence. Johnston was released on three years probation, subject to the conditions that he attend the courses the …

Home News Shop worker groomed schoolgirl online for four years Return to News 18 December 2015 A shop worker who groomed a schoolgirl online for four years, getting her to perform sex acts on a webcam has been jailed. Michael Fitzmaurice, 26, from Manchester began the abuse of the girl when she was just 11-years-old, communicating with her via internet chat rooms and Skype. When National Crime Agency investigators raided his home in Burnage in December 2014 they seized computers which contained chat logs dating back to 2010. In them he had encouraged the girl to send him indecent images of herself and sent her pictures of him. Evidence was also recovered show…