National Crime Agency (NCA)

Home News Southampton man sentenced after accessing indecent images of children online Return to News 21 March 2018 A man who accessed child abuse images on a video conferencing platform used by fellow offenders has been sentenced following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation. Richard Townsend, 56, from Southampton, had admitted one count of encouraging the distribution of indecent images of children and a further six of accessing or downloading indecent images of children. Townsend was arrested after NCA officers found he was behind one of the usernames in a chat room used by child sex offenders. Forensic examination of Townsend’s devices found 159 …

Return to NewsA former day nursery manager was charged yesterday with two offences as part of a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation into a video conferencing facility used to share indecent images of children. Alison Whateley, aged 43, from Farnham, Surrey, who was arrested on 26 September 2017, was a senior manager at Bushy Tails Nursery in Teddington. During the time of the alleged offending, she also worked for the same company at Hampton Wick Nursery and two other nurseries which are now closed – Teddington and Twickenham West. Following her arrest Whateley was granted conditional police bail. She was also suspended by her employer and later dismissed. She ap…

Return to News Two men charged with intentionally arranging or facilitating the travel of a female for the purposes of sexual abuse between 2004 and 2006 have today (19 March) had their charges dismissed at Sheffield Crown Court. The Judge today ruled that there was insufficient evidence to proceed. Mohammed Yasin, 37 from Lilycroft Road, Bradford and Qaiser Iqbal, 35, from Bingley Road, Bradford were charged on the 25th May 2017 as part of the NCA’s Operation Stovewood. There are currently 34 ongoing investigations under the Stovewood umbrella and officers are actively engaging with over 260 victims. We have 114 designated suspects (suspects who have been identified…

Return to News16 March 2018 Three members of a London-based Albanian drugs gang have been jailed for a total of 16 years, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency and Metropolitan Police Organised Crime Partnership (OCP). OCP officers apprehended the group’s ringleader, Mark Gurini, 26, at a petrol station near his home in Buckhurst Hill on 26 September 2017. He was in possession of false Italian identification documents and had two kilos of cocaine hidden in his car. Officers searching his flat on Queens Road found another 49 kilos of cocaine and further evidence that the gang had been using the property as a base for their drug dealing business. This…

Return to News14 March 2018 National Crime Agency investigators are appealing for information to trace a man charged with importing cocaine into the UK. Dwane Johnson was arrested by Border Force officers in January 2016 when he arrived at Birmingham Airport on a flight from Jamaica. Officers searching his suitcase recovered over 10 kilos of cocaine concealed as coconut milk powder. The drugs had an estimated street value of £400,000. After being questioned by the NCA Johnson was released on bail. He was later charged but went on the run, and failed to appear at court in September 2017, when a warrant was issued for his arrest. Six other people charged in connection …

Return to News13 March 2018 The time has come to broaden the fight against modern slavery and human trafficking. That was the key message from an event to mark the NCA’s ‘Invisible People’ photographic exhibition at London’s Westminster Abbey. Home Office minister Victoria Atkins MP used her speech at the event to call for support from the public and private sectors. “We need increased support from financial institutions helping us identify and disrupt illicit financial flows which are used to fund and launder the proceeds of modern slavery,” she said. “Local authorities and services must also play their part by identifying and safeguarding potential victims at an ear…

Return to News9 March 2018 A corrupt postal delivery driver who conspired to intercept and supply cannabis worth at least £1.2m which had been sent to addresses in north London has been jailed today (9 March). Adewale Aderounmu, 55, of south London, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey last year to one charge of conspiring to supply drugs and was today sentenced to 7.5 years in prison at the same court. The court heard how Aderounmu, who had been a Parcelforce Worldwide driver for over a decade, was arrested after Border Force officers noticed an unusually high number of intercepted drugs packages had been posted to addresses on Aderounmu’s delivery route. On one occasio…

Return to News 8 March 2018 A man wanted on suspicion of supplying heroin and cocaine across the North West of England has been extradited to the UK after being captured in the Netherlands. Simon McGuffie, 44, of Allerton, Liverpool, is alleged to be a member of a Merseyside-based organised crime group involved in the large-scale supply of drugs. McGuffie, who featured on the Operation Captura most wanted fugitives campaign, was located in Amsterdam as a result of joint work between the National Crime Agency and the Dutch National Police. He was wanted by Titan - the North West Regional Crime Unit – over the allegations. Following his arrest in December,…

Home News Clydebank trafficker smuggled cocaine in cardboard Return to News 7 March 2018 A 42-year-old Clydebank man who smuggled cocaine worth more than £100,000 into theUK has been jailed for five years and three months following an investigation by the National Crime Agency. Border Force officers working at Coventry International Postal Hub intercepted two packages addressed to Vincent Dolan October 2017. An investigation was passed to the NCA after the packages were found to contain cocaine which had been impregnated into cardboard. With support from Police Scotland, NCA officers subsequently arrested Dolan at his home in Bonn Accord Square. Dolan pleaded …

Home News Op Stovewood: Six arrested on suspicion of rape and indecent assault Return to News 2 March 2018 Five men and one women have been arrested this week as part of the National Crime Agency’s independent investigation into child sexual exploitation and abuse in Rotherham. The men, aged between 30 and 42 from Rotherham and Sheffield were arrested on suspicion of raping and indecently assaulting two girls under the age of 16 between 2002 and 2003. The woman, aged 53, from Rotherham was arrested on suspicion of allowing her premises to be used for sexual intercourse (involving minors) during the same time period. Two other individuals – a woman aged 39 from …

Return to News1 March 2018 The girl has since been identified and safeguarded by authorities and the offender arrested. Nowak was sentenced on 22nd February 2018 at Kingston Crown Court to two years and four months imprisonment. He had admitted nine offences, including encouraging the commission of an either way offence, possessing indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornography. The judge also imposed a five-year sexual harm prevention order and placed Nowak on the sex offenders register for ten years. Four sentenced Nowak is the fourth UK man to be convicted as part of the NCA’s investigation into the assault. Matthew Abbott, 34, of Coombe Dale, wa…

Home News NCA secures first unexplained wealth orders Return to News 28 February 2018 The NCA has secured two unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) to investigate assets totalling £22m that are believed to ultimately be owned by a politically exposed person (PEP). These are the first such orders granted and represent the first time the legislation will be tested through the court. The orders relate to two properties, one in London and one in the South East of England. In addition to the UWOs, interim freezing orders (IFOs) were granted meaning that the assets cannot be sold, transferred or dissipated while subject to the order (IFO). Donald Toon, Director for Economic C…

Return to News27 February 2018 A wide-ranging investigation into alleged police corruption during the original enquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the attack on Duwayne Brooks OBE in April 1993 has entered a new operational phase. The comprehensive investigation, undertaken by the National Crime Agency (NCA) under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), has for the past two years gathered and analysed a vast amount of documentation, information and intelligence covering a period of nearly 25 years since Stephen’s death. The documentation, running to several million pages of information, has been collected from a number of source…

Return to News21 February 2018 A woman suspected of being a key member of an organised crime group that trafficked women from Nigeria to Europe and forced them into sex work has been arrested by National Crime Agency officers. The Spanish national was apprehended on 2 February 2018 on a European Arrest Warrant after NCA investigators tracked her down to a house in Miles Platting, Manchester. With support from Greater Manchester Police, NCA officers also detained two Nigerian men at the address aged 39 and 34 on suspicion of drugs and immigration offences. A further 11 suspected members of the criminal network were arrested in the same week in Spain and four victims we…

Return to News 19 February 2018 A depraved university academic has today been jailed for 38 years after admitting 137 ‘hurt core’ charges. Cambridge University graduate Dr Matthew Falder, who called himself ‘evilmind’ and ‘666devil’ during years of horrific online offending, closed his eyes as he was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court. The geophysicist, 29, of Edgbaston, Birmingham, who is originally from Cheshire, admitted the huge number of counts – which included encouraging the rape of a four-year-old boy – after a tenacious National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation. Falder boasted that he would never be caught and said he did not care if his victims lived or d…