Thread: Foreign gangs and 30,000 criminals rob 'soft touch' Britain

Foreign gangs and 30,000 criminals rob 'soft touch' Britain of £40billion a year

By Sophie Borland
Last updated at 10:38 AM on 14th July 2009

Comments 29


Gangbusters: Police raid a house used by people-traffickers

Organised gangs who see the UK as a soft touch are costing us £40billion a year, a hard-hitting report claimed yesterday.

Up to 30,000 criminals are involved in drugs, guns, fraud and human-trafficking because our borders are 'relatively easy' to cross, it says.

Some criminals specifically named the Human Rights Act, which made it easy to obtain citizenship by marrying a British national.

Many are targeting Britain because they believe officials have a relaxed attitude to migrants and asylum seekers.

In interviews, prisoners revealed that Britain was a fertile place to make healthy profits from crime with a 'low risk of detection'.

Gang bosses can earn more than £250,000 a year. According to the joint Home Office and Cabinet Office review, more than 4,000 gangs are in operation.

A large proportion have close ties with poverty-stricken countries such as Somalia, where huge numbers of people are prepared to do almost anything to leave.

Officials, who interviewed 45 prisoners convicted of people smuggling or trafficking offences in 2005, found that Britain was seen as having liberal immigration policies.

There is also thought to be less interference from the Government over prostitution, even compared with some countries where it is legal.

Ministers plan a crackdown on some of the gang leaders by using 'Al Capone' style investigations to prosecute them for tax evasion.

A pilot project involving Revenue and Customs officials aims to increase the number of gang bosses brought to book with tax laws.

Infamous Chicago gangster Capone evaded capture for years until he was convicted on tax evasion charges in 1931.

Tory immigration spokesman Damien Green said: 'It is a sad fact that people engaged in the dreadful crime of human trafficking find our borders " relatively easy" to cross.

'This is one of the reasons a Conservative government would introduce a specialist Border Police Force, so that around the world criminals would know that we were toughening up Britain's borders.'

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the campaign group MigrationWatch, said: 'This report lifts the lid on how our border controls are perceived by those they are meant to deter.

'It confirms what MigrationWatch has been saying for years, namely that Britain is the softest touch in Europe.

'Easy access to illegal work, as well as free access to health and education services provide the smugglers with a neverending flow of customers.

'It is absurd to suggest that this is being effectively tackled when they are queueing in Calais by the thousand.'

According to information given by the traffickers, many of the victims smuggled into Britain are 'vulnerable' young women from poor or broken families.

Immigrants were either brought across the border in cars, vans or lorries, or made it through immigration using fake passports and visas.

Often the traffickers were themselves illegal immigrants and some were dealing in drugs and guns as well as people.

The fee for bringing someone into the country illegally ranged from £3,000 for those coming from Albania, £12,000 for those smuggled in from Turkey, £10,000 from

Russia and up to £50,000 to come in from China. Some criminals helping immigrants get in illegally had incomes estimated at up to £280,000 a year.

The report also warned that gang violence would increase during the recession as criminals battled for a share of the market.

It predicted that the downturn would create opportunities for people traffickers and drug smugglers.

In response, the Home Office is setting up a strategic centre to improve how the gangs are monitored.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: 'The UK is known as a world leader in the fight against serious organised crime.

'However, the threat continues to evolve and it is right that we update and strengthen our response to match it.

'This strategy goes further than ever before in taking the fight to organised criminals - from the hard-to-reach criminal bosses to the lower-level players that are harming our communities.'

Home Office Minister Alan Campbell added: 'This is about making sure we have a response that keeps up with the demands in an evolving area of criminality.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -year.html

Gee, sounds like the good old USA, except they are doing something about it.