Latest news with #drugrelatedcrime
BBC News
21-07-2025
- BBC News
Nearly 40% of Manx prisoners linked to organised crime
More than a third of Isle of Man prisoners have links to organised crime, the chief constable has said in his annual Foster released the findings for the 2024-25 financial year, which showed overall crime dropped by 10%. Home Affairs Minister Jane Poole-Wilson welcomed the report, which was accepted by Tynwald members on said areas of "drug-related and serious and organised crime remain a key focus" for the department. The number of prisoners with links to Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) had risen to 39% in 2024-25, the report figure is 6% higher than the start of 2024 at 33%, and 14% higher than at the end of 2023, at 25%.This year has seen violent crime reduced, but the proportion of crimes linked to drugs has risen from 9% to 14%.Mr Foster's report outlined there were 239 "disruptions" to OCGs throughout the financial year, which included arrests, seizures, sentencings, and "other action which affects the ability of the OCG to operate".The number of disruptions was 71% higher than the previous year, where 140 disruptions were logged in 2023-24. 'Deter, disrupt, detect' Mr Foster's report outlined there were 239 "disruptions" to OCGs throughout the financial year, which included arrests, seizures, sentencings, and "other action which affects the ability of the OCG to operate".The number of disruptions was 71% higher than the previous year, where 140 disruptions were logged in Foster said the force had made a "major impact on two OCGs", a "moderate impact on two OCGs", and a "minor impact on six OCGs". The groups were mostly related to drugs and money laundering, the report said, including four international money laundering OCGs. Three related to fraud, one related to immigration fraud and two related to human trafficking and modern slavery, the report Foster said there had been 37 local arrests, and 22 in the UK, as a result of operations carried out related to organised crime. They saw a total of £464,000 of cocaine seized, £250,000 of cannabis, and £75,000 of ketamine. There was also about £127,000 of criminal property seized. Poole-Wilson said the report reflected the risk from OCGs and the department was making "continued efforts to deter, disrupt, detect, and bring to justice those who commit such crimes".Poole-Wilson said work had taken place at the island's ports, which had resulted in closer working arrangements in immigration and customs. "These areas of drug related and serious and organised crime remain a key focus and align with ongoing work to address exploitation of young and vulnerable people and reducing violence and harm," she added. Elsewhere in the report, Mr Foster reported a rise in reported domestic abuse and sexual offence crimes, which the chief constable said reflected the "impact of new legislation and increased public confidence".He said: "The full implementation of the Domestic Abuse Act 2020 and the Sexual Offences and Obscene Publications Act 2021 has led to improved victim safeguarding, enhanced enforcement capabilities, and strengthened multi-agency coordination."There had been a 25% increase in the number of rape offences reported this year and a 24% increase for other sexual offences, the report said.A new Sexual Assault Referral Centre is set to open later this year. Staffing challenges The report highlighted "stretched resources" and "significant staffing challenges" which led to a reduction in the number of community based officers. Mr Foster said there were an estimated 30 officers leaving the organisation between 2025 and 2028 which was "compounding the existing shortages".Starting salaries for new recruits had been increased to £33,690, compared to £29,907 in the UK, which he said aligned them with other law enforcement agencies on the new recruits had completed their initial police training, and would begin the next phase of training, which would "alleviate the officer shortages we have been experiencing", Mr Foster Tynwald, Poole-Wilson said there was a further recruitment drive under way, adding: "We are absolutely building back."The report was received unanimously by the Manx parliament. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
BBC News
25-06-2025
- BBC News
'Illegal activities' house closed down in Towcester
A house that was the subject of persistent complaints about illegal activities has been closed down.A three-month closure order is now in force at the property on Willis Way in Towcester, who enters the building could be arrested for breaching the Police said getting a closure order was always "a last resort". Northamptonshire Police said they had been responding to reports of "drug-related criminality and associated anti-social behaviour" at the house since April force added that the issues were "causing misery to other residents and the wider community" and it had worked with West Northamptonshire Council to gather information about the "impact the escalating behaviour was having on others".With assistance from the council and housing association, Amplius, the force applied for a closure order, which was granted on 16 June at Northampton Magistrates' house was boarded up, and the tenant moved out. Anyone who enters it before 16 September could be Lorna Clarke of the Towcester Neighbourhood Policing Team said: "The issues associated with this property were causing real harm and distress to those living nearby and the wider community."We do not take the decision to apply for a closure order lightly, and it will always be a last resort once all other avenues have been exhausted." Fay Hirel, director of housing and healthy communities at Amplius, said: "We're committed to ensuring all our customers can live in a safe and welcoming community."Where we have evidence of anti-social behaviour, we'll work with our partner agencies to take the relevant tenancy and legal action against the perpetrators to help us achieve this." Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
South China Morning Post
23-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong customs arrests 3 over alleged HK$61 million money-laundering case
Hong Kong customs has arrested three people suspected of laundering about HK$61 million (US$7.8 million) in illegal funds, with the trio allegedly conducting more than 10,000 transactions in a year. Customs officers uncovered the case during a financial investigation into one of two people previously arrested in connection with a drug-related crime. The arrested woman, 63, was found to have bank accounts dealing with a large amount of funds of unknown origin. 'Through a cash flow analysis, investigators further discovered that another local woman, 55, and a local man, 30, had conducted transfers with these accounts and collected a large amount of funds,' Billy Au Wing-cheung from the Customs Financial Investigation Bureau said on Friday. 'Between January and December of 2024, the three people had dealt with about HK$61 million in suspected criminal proceeds through 10 accounts in seven local banks, including four virtual banks. The number of transactions exceeded 10,000.' The man and woman were arrested on Thursday for money laundering in a raid on two residential flats, while the 63-year-old woman was apprehended again over the same crime. During investigations, Au said the transactions involving the trio were suspicious as they did not match their financial background.
CBC
14-05-2025
- CBC
Feds fight to keep suspected Swedish criminal kingpin behind bars pending deportation
Lawyers for Canada's Ministry of Public Safety will be in Federal Court Thursday, trying to prevent the release from immigration custody of a man accused of orchestrating a wave of drug-related violence rocking one of Sweden's largest cities. Roman Tryfonenko was detained Jan. 9 on a layover at Vancouver airport after Canada Border Services Agency officers learned he was believed to be the leader of 'T-Phalanx' — a gang linked to daytime shootings and bombings in the port city of Gothenburg. Ottawa has cleared the way to deport the 29-year-old to Sweden, but officials are now fighting to overturn a decision by an Immigration and Refugee Board member last month who ordered Tryfonenko released on strict conditions pending his removal from Canada. According to court documents, the Ministry of Public Safety argues that Tryfonenko — who has been accused of running "a proxy war" from outside Sweden — presents too great a public risk and is unlikely to show up for return to a country where he has claimed his life will be at risk. "Releasing [Tryfonenko] would jeopardize the integrity of the immigration system," the government said in arguments to support its bid for a judicial review of the release decision. "[He] poses a significant danger to the public and a flight risk." From socialist paradise to 'homicide hotspot' The case shines a light on the gang violence that has turned a Scandinavian country once lauded as a socialist paradise into the "homicide hotspot" portrayed in one of the media articles on Sweden's gang war, included in the court files. According to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, gun violence has increased Sweden's homicide rate to one of the highest in Europe, at approximately four deaths per million inhabitants per year. The average for the continent is 1.6 deaths per million inhabitants. Tryfonenko was travelling from Bangkok to Mexico on a Swedish passport when he was flagged for detention by a Europol notice. He was carrying a Belgian passport and two driver's licences in different names in his luggage. He later told CBSA officers he bought them on the "dark web" out of fear for his safety "because he was being pursued by a criminal organization." Born in Ukraine, Tryfonenko has admitted a criminal past that saw him serve two stretches in jail for drug offences, but "vehemently" denies being a kingpin — saying "no underlying evidence has ever been provided by CBSA to prove that he is a leader of a criminal gang." A man known as 'Jordgubben' — 'The Strawberry' Swedish Police Authority documents paint a different picture. "Roman Tryfonenko has been well known to the Swedish police for many years," a letter sent to CBSA reads. "Tryfonenko is currently considered the leader of one of the most active criminal groups in the Greater Gothenburg area." Swedish police claim Tryfonenko is "involved in large-scale narcotics import and collaborates" with a man known as 'Jordgubben' — 'The Strawberry' — "who is another leading figure within violent and drug-related crime." The document details a series of violent offences, including explosions, that culminated in the murder of two young men in Gothenburg in February 2024 in what authorities believe was "possibly" an attack on a "high-ranked individual with close ties to Tryfonenko." "After the double murder, at least 15 shootings and explosions took place that are considered acts of revenge against individuals and their relatives," the Swedish police letter says. "The attacks are likely planned and instigated by Tryfonenko, who has been abroad for some time now and runs a proxy war from abroad ... The modus operandi is to remotely hire young perpetrators to detonate bombs, carry out shootings or deploy bombs. After the task has been carried out, a compensation is sent to the perpetrator." Lacking 'meaningful analysis' According to CBSA documents, Tryfonenko has been living in Spain since around 2021, when he was last released from jail. His passport is peppered with stamps from Colombia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Tryfonenko — who claims members of his old gang now want to kill him — was willing to return to Spain. But the government wants to deport him to Sweden, where he's suspected of money laundering offences. At his last immigration detention hearing, Immigration and Refugee Board Member Colleen Zuk agreed Tryfonenko was a threat to the public — although she said the case was "borderline." And she also agreed he represented a flight risk. But Zuk said the length of his detention appears to have been prolonged because authorities insist on sending him to Sweden instead of Spain. As such, she found he could be released to live with a friend who put up a $10,000 bond and agreed to conditions including the wearing of an ankle monitoring bracelet and a promise to stay off the dark web. In their arguments, the government's lawyers claim Zuk's ruling is unreasonable, saying they lack "meaningful analysis" of the person who put up the bond, the "sufficiency" of the bond and "[Tryfonenko's] significant resources and connections with international criminal organizations." Last week, a federal court judge stayed the release decision pending a judicial review of the release order on Thursday.
