The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy Annual Report for 2014 Cm 9049 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 1 20 03 2015 19 21 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 2 20 03 2015 19 21 The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy Annual Report for 2014 Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for the Home Department by Command of Her Majesty March 2015 Cm 9049 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 1 20 03 2015 19 21 © Crown copyright 2015 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3 0 except where otherwise stated To view this licence visit nationalarchives gov uk doc open-government-licence version 3 or write to the Information Policy Team The National Archives Kew London TW9 4DU or email psi@nationalarchives gsi gov uk Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at public enquiries@homeoffice gsi gov uk Print ISBN 9781474116893 Web ISBN 9781474116909 ID 17031504 48576 03 15 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum Printed in the UK by the Williams Lea Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office This publication is available at www gov uk government publications 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 2 20 03 2015 19 21 Contents The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy Annual Report for 2014 Foreword 5 Part 1 Introduction 7   The threat 7 Part 2 Our response 11   Pursue 11  Prevent 19  Protect 21  Prepare 24 Conclusion 27 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 3 20 03 2015 19 21 4  The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy – Annual Report for 2014 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 4 20 03 2015 19 21 Foreword by the Home Secretary  5  Foreword by the Home Secretary Events in 2014 illustrated all too clearly the harm caused by serious and organised crime which threatens our national security and affects people communities and businesses across the UK on a daily basis The threats we face are varied complex and evolving rapidly Recent high-profile cases in Rotherham and elsewhere have highlighted the scale of child sexual exploitation in the UK and we now know that modern slavery is more prevalent than previously thought Last year saw the spread of banking malware responsible for losses of hundreds of millions of pounds as well as the growing use of cyber techniques by organised criminals to commit fraud and trade illegal drugs and firearms on the internet These threats present significant challenges which is why this Government launched the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy and established the National Crime Agency in October 2013 They mark a step change in our fight against serious and organised crime My priority remains the disruption and prosecution of serious and organised criminals so we must ensure that our law enforcement and intelligence agencies continue to have the powers and capabilities they need We have introduced important new legislation through the Serious Crime Act 2015 and have strengthened collaboration locally regionally and with the private sector We have invested in better capabilities including on cyber crime and in the Regional Organised Crime Units and have committed an extra £10 million to tackle online child sexual exploitation We are also implementing major new programmes of work to prevent protect against and reduce the impact of serious and organised crime The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy will need to adapt to the changing nature of the threat in 2015 but I am confident that we are on the right path Theresa May MP Home Secretary 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 5 20 03 2015 19 21 6  The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy – Annual Report for 2014 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 6 20 03 2015 19 21 Part 1 Introduction  7  PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1 In October 2013 the Government published a new Serious and Organised Crime Strategy 1 to coincide with the launch of the National Crime Agency NCA The Government committed to providing an annual update on progress delivering the Strategy this report covers the period from 7 October 2013 to 31 December 2014 1 2 Whilst national security is a reserved matter crime and policing and prisons and probation are devolved and the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly We continue to collaborate with all of the Devolved Administrations to disrupt serious and organised crime The Threat 1 3 Serious and organised crime is a threat to our national security 2 It affects people communities and businesses across the UK and continues to cause loss of life significant economic and social harm and substantial public anxiety As of 31 December 2014 UK law enforcement estimated that there were around 5 800 organised crime groups – comprising some 40 600 individuals – 1 2 HM Government 2013 Serious and Organised Crime Strategy Available at https www gov uk government uploads system uploads attachment_data file 248645 Serious_and_ Organised_Crime_Strategy pdf HM Government 2010 A Strong Britain in an Age of Uncertainty The National Security Strategy Available at https www gov uk government uploads system uploads attachment_data file 61936 national-security-strategy pdf 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 7 causing harm to the UK The cost to the UK of serious and organised crime is estimated to be at least £24 billion a year 3 1 4 The Strategy made clear that our response to serious and organised crime in the UK must be driven by an authoritative understanding of the threat In May 2014 the NCA published the first National Strategic Assessment 4 on behalf of UK law enforcement providing the most complete picture yet of the serious and organised crime threats facing the UK They include cyber crime economic crime and money laundering corruption child sexual exploitation immigration crime human trafficking and modern slavery drugs trafficking criminal use of firearms and theft The next Assessment will be published in late spring 2015 1 5 Cyber crime is a tier 1 threat to the UK’s national security 2 Malware ransomware attacks and the targeted compromise of UK networked systems particularly from criminals based overseas are an increasing threat Cyber techniques are used by organised criminals to commit fraud against government 3 4 Home Office 2013 Understanding Organised Crime Estimating the Scale and the Social and Economic Costs Available at https www gov uk government publications understandingorganised-crime-estimating-the-scale-and-thesocial-and-economic-costs National Crime Agency 2014 National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime 2014 Available at http www nationalcrimeagency gov uk publications 207nca-strategic-assessment-of-serious-andorganised-crime file 20 03 2015 19 21 8  The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy – Annual Report for 2014 departments businesses and the public Firearms drugs and other illegal commodities are traded on the internet including the ‘dark web’ using virtual currencies We are seeing an expansion of cyber crime ‘as a service’ with some instances of organised crime groups hiring cyber experts 1 6 The sexual abuse of children is a despicable crime It can take many forms including sexual abuse within families exploitation by individuals or groups or online abuse such as ‘grooming’ and the proliferation of indecent images of children While it is not possible to put a definitive figure on victim numbers the NSPCC has reported that approximately 1 in 20 of UK children have experienced some form of coerced sexual act by the age of 16 years 5 Recent high-profile cases including the sexual exploitation of children by gangs in Rotherham have led to increased reporting and awareness of what has all too often in the past been an ignored crime The NCA received 12 505 referrals from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in its first 12 months compared to 9 855 in 2012 an increase of almost 27 per cent The NCA has estimated that there are as many as 50 000 people in the UK involved in the downloading and viewing of indecent images online 1 7 Many hundreds of billions of pounds of international criminal money is almost certainly laundered through UK banks and their subsidiaries each year 6 Other sectors 5 6 NSPCC 2011 Child Abuse and Neglect in the UK Today Available at http www nspcc org uk preventing-abuse research-and-resources childabuse-and-neglect-in-the-uk-today National Crime Agency 2014 National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime 2014 Available at http www nationalcrimeagency gov uk publications 207nca-strategic-assessment-of-serious-andorganised-crime file 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 8 are also vulnerable At least £1 5 billion is laundered annually via money service businesses alone and the professional services sector plays a significant although less well-understood role in money laundering The criminal exploitation of corrupt and unstable governments overseas can directly affect UK national security 1 8 The NCA considers that there were 2 744 known potential victims of human trafficking in the UK in 2013 an increase of 22 per cent compared to 2012 7 The number of victims still hidden from sight is highlighted by recent work conducted by the Home Office Using data collected by the NCA and applying established statistical methods the Home Office’s Chief Scientific Adviser estimates that there may have been as many as 10 000 – 13 000 potential victims of modern slavery in the UK in 2013 8 The majority of illegal migrants rely on the services of organised criminal groups at some point in their journey 1 9 Illegal drug use in England and Wales has fallen over the last decade with 8 8 per cent of adults taking an illicit drug in 2013 14 9 But the social and economic costs of drug use remain high at an estimated £10 7 billion 7 8 9 National Crime Agency 2014 NCA Strategic Assessment The Nature and Scale of Human Trafficking in 2013 Available at http www nationalcrimeagency gov uk publications 399nca-strategic-assessment-the-nature-and-scaleof-human-trafficking-in-2013 file Home Office 2014 Modern Slavery An Application of Multiple Systems Estimation Available at https www gov uk government uploads system uploads attachment_data file 381389 Modern_ Slavery_an_application_of_MSE PDF Home Office 2014 Drug misuse Findings from the 2013 14 Crime Survey for England and Wales Available at https www gov uk government statistics drug-misuse-findings-from-the-2013-to2014-csew 20 03 2015 19 21 Part 1 Introduction  9  annually 10 and in 2013 there were 1 957 illegal drug-related deaths registered 11 The number of new psychoactive substances detected in the UK has grown 12 The amount of cocaine reaching UK streets remains high while the supply of heroin from Afghanistan is likely to increase over the next few years 13 1 10 The growth diversification and use of technology will make it increasingly challenging in the future for law enforcement bodies to maintain an advantage over serious and organised criminal groups The threat will continue to be transnational 10 11 12 13 Home Office 2013 Understanding Organised Crime Estimating the Scale and the Social and Economic Costs Available at https www gov uk government publications understandingorganised-crime-estimating-the-scale-and-thesocial-and-economic-costs Office for National Statistics 2014 Deaths Related to Drug Poisoning in England and Wales 2013 Available at http www ons gov uk ons rel subnational-health3 deaths-related-to-drugpoisoning england-and-wales---2013 index html Home Office 2014 New Psychoactive Substances in England A Review of the Evidence Available at https www gov uk government uploads system uploads attachment_data file 368587 NPSevidenceReview pdf National Crime Agency 2014 National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime 2014 Available at http www nationalcrimeagency gov uk publications 207nca-strategic-assessment-of-serious-andorganised-crime file 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 9 20 03 2015 19 21 10  The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy – Annual Report for 2014 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 10 20 03 2015 19 21 Part 2 Our Response  11  PART 2 OUR RESPONSE 2 1 The aim of the new Serious and Organised Crime Strategy in 2013 was to reduce substantially the level of serious and organised crime affecting the UK and its interests The Strategy took a new approach to the threat from organised crime creating new areas of work Prevent and Prepare and redefining our activities under the heading of Protect The Strategy was modelled on our successful approach to countering terrorism and is based around •• Pursue prosecuting and disrupting people engaged in serious and organised criminality •• Prevent stopping people from engaging in serious and organised crime •• Protect increasing protection against serious and organised crime •• Prepare reducing the impact of this criminality where it takes place 2 2 The Strategy specified high-level objectives in each of these areas and this report describes the actions we have taken to meet them to reduce both the threats we face and our vulnerabilities We are satisfied that our approach is right and effective But it needs to evolve as the threats change Pursue 2 3 The relentless disruption and prosecution of serious and organised criminals remains our highest priority The Strategy committed us to 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 11 •• establish strong organisations and effective collaboration to lead work against serious and organised crime •• develop our capabilities to detect investigate prosecute and disrupt serious and organised crime •• attack criminal finances by making it harder to move hide and use the proceeds of crime •• ensure that effective legal powers are available and are used to deal with the threat from serious and organised crime and •• internationally improve our own capabilities and our cooperation with others to better tackle organised crime networks Effective organisations and partnerships 2 4 In its first 12 months the NCA worked closely with police forces Regional Organised Crime Units ROCUs and other national and international partners to disrupt14 organised criminal groups arresting 2 048 people in the UK and 1 181 overseas and achieving 415 convictions NCA operations seized over 200 tonnes of illegal drugs and more than 700 firearms including 165 guns In line with its stronger statutory powers the NCA has introduced new national tasking 14 A disruption results from an intervention and has been achieved when an individual or group is unable to operate at its usual level of activity for a period of time or when there has been an impact on a vulnerability 20 03 2015 19 21 12  The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy – Annual Report for 2014 and co-ordination to align the collective law enforcement response against the most dangerous individuals and groups Our work to develop the capabilities of the ROCU network is set out at paragraph 2 7 Operation NOTARISE see paragraph 2 24 illustrates how the NCA is able to coordinate a national response to a major threat involving direct work with all 45 police forces across England Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland Further information on the role structure and performance of the NCA can be found in its Annual Report for 2013 14 15 Four police forces are leaders in multiagency working – Derbyshire Dorset Greater Manchester and Merseyside all have put in place Local Profiles local partnerships and programmes across all areas of the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy Pursue Prevent Protect and Prepare Stronger capabilities 2 7 ROCUs assist their respective local forces by delivering specialist investigative and intelligence capabilities including the capacity to lead investigations into organised crime groups that cross police force boundaries 2 5 Tackling serious and organised crime is They also work closely with the NCA to not just a matter for national law enforcement support the national response to serious and agencies and regional policing An effective organised crime and provide a vital interface response also depends on much closer between the NCA and mainstream policing collaboration between law enforcement Since 2013 we have provided £65 million organisations and intelligence agencies to establish 12 core capabilities across the government departments regulators local ROCUs meeting the Strategy’s commitment authorities the voluntary sector and industry to deliver “significant change” by the end of The Strategy proposed new multi-agency 2014 These capabilities include intelligence partnerships based on a shared Serious and collection and analysis fraud investigation Organised Crime Local Profile 16 witness protection and asset recovery teams 2 6 Local Profiles are in place in 11 police that recover the proceeds of crime through force areas in England and Wales and forfeiture and confiscation orders All ROCUs a further 27 forces are in the process of now have prison intelligence units GAIN preparing them Around half of all forces coordinators and Regional Intelligence Units 23  in England and Wales have established including Confidential Units to facilitate the a serious and organised crime multi-agency exchange of sensitive intelligence The ROCUs’ partnership with more intending to do so capabilities will be enhanced further in 2015 once their Profile is complete GAIN the 2 8 In 2014 15 the Home Office was Government Agency Intelligence Network allocated £23 5 million from the National Cyber is building links between partners and is Security Programme to tackle cyber crime and coordinating the gathering of intelligence on make the UK one of the most secure places to those threats identified in the Local Profiles do business online which is the first objective 15 16 National Crime Agency 2014 Annual Report and Accounts 2013 to 2014 Available at https www gov uk government uploads system uploads attachment_data file 380378 NCA_Annual_ Report___Accounts_2013-14_v1 0__web_ pdf Home Office 2014 Serious and Organised Crime Profiles A Guide Available at https www gov uk government publications serious-andorganised-crime-local-profiles 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 12 of the National Cyber Security Strategy We have established a National Cyber Crime Unit NCCU in the NCA and set up cyber teams in each of the nine ROCUs in England and Wales As of 31 December 2014 the NCCU had 30 live domestic and international operations to disrupt serious cyber crime with the ROCUs undertaking 85 operations 20 03 2015 19 21 Part 2 Our Response  13  The College of Policing is working with police forces and the NCA to train thousands of officers Work is underway to define develop and implement the digital investigation and analytical capabilities needed by the police to tackle all forms of crime and terrorism that leave a digital footprint 2 9 The Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act DRIPA 2014 was passed in July 2014 This ensures that communications data – which are used in about 95 per cent of cases handled by the Crown Prosecution Service’s Organised Crime Division – continues to be available if needed to our law enforcement and intelligence agencies The Act does not provide any new powers rights of access or obligations Provisions in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 provide some important new communications data capabilities But neither DRIPA nor the later Act addressed the wider capabilities of the police and security and intelligence agencies to access communications data This was the area the Draft Communications Data Bill sought to address but there was no coalition agreement and therefore no majority to take this Bill through Parliament 2 10 Following the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre’s decision to increase the international terrorist threat level to the UK to SEVERE in August 2014 the Home Secretary opted to postpone a review into counter-terrorism policing A programme of priority work led by senior police and NCA officers has been put in place to enhance collaboration between the police and agencies working on counter-terrorism and serious and organised crime with an emphasis on activity at the UK border in prisons and on cyber capabilities and money laundering Tackling criminal finances 2 11 Making it more difficult to move launder and use the proceeds of crime and strengthening our ability to recover criminal 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 13 assets were a key part of the Strategy agreed in 2013 In 2013 14 £190 million of assets was recovered from criminals an increase of £6 82 million from 2012 13 Between April 2010 and December 2014 £891 million has been confiscated from offenders and £110 million returned to victims Hundreds of millions more have been frozen and put beyond the reach of criminals 2 12 We have developed a new crossgovernment criminal finances improvement plan to recover assets more efficiently and to tackle the stock of outstanding confiscation orders which currently totals around £1 5 billion This involves much closer working with the financial sector including a pilot scheme in which information on unenforced confiscation orders is shared with UK banks The NCA led a multi-agency project to focus operational effort on the highest priority unenforced orders linked to the most serious criminals £40 million has been enforced against these orders in 2014 compared to about £9 million in 2013 Nine new Asset Confiscation Enforcement Teams have been created in the ROCUs In their first six months of operation they have recovered £3 million from criminals The Crown Prosecution Service CPS has deployed overseas in Spain the United Arab Emirates and Caribbean and European regions a new network of specialist Asset Recovery Advisers to improve the recovery of illicit assets 2 13 In April 2014 the Home Secretary agreed – with the Governor of the Bank of England the Chairman of the Financial Conduct Authority FCA and Chief Executives from the financial services industry – to set up a new Serious and Organised Crime Financial Sector Forum This is leading to practical cooperation and better information sharing between the financial sector law enforcement organisations and government to tackle money laundering and to improve reporting of suspicious financial transactions Through 20 03 2015 19 21 14  The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy – Annual Report for 2014 the Forum we established in February 2015 a Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce JMLIT pilot to help identify investigate and disrupt money launderers and other financial criminals The Government has also committed to reviewing the Suspicious Activity Reporting regime SARs to ensure that it prevents and disrupts effectively the movement of illicit funds through the financial and other regulated sectors New legal powers Development In particular we have improved our ability to tackle organised immigration crime cyber crime financial crime and child sexual exploitation through new NCA and CPS specialist deployments in a number of locations 2 16 We are delivering a wide range of cross-government programmes – including through the Conflict Stability and Security Fund – to strengthen our operational capabilities and casework in priority countries overseas and to help build local law enforcement and criminal justice capacity This includes initiatives in Asia the Middle East Africa the Caribbean and South America where the UK is often seen as a critical security partner For example in 2014 we 2 14 The Serious Crime Act 201517 strengthens our powers to recover the proceeds of crime by making it more difficult for criminals to conceal and move their assets reducing the time to pay confiscation orders and increasing prison sentences for failing to pay them A new offence of participating in an organised crime group •• sustained a major programme of ensures that we can prosecute effectively cooperation in Afghanistan to disrupt the full spectrum of people engaged in criminal networks seeking to traffic drugs organised crime including those who provide to the UK with NCA officers training and professional and non-professional services mentoring Afghanistan’s counter-narcotics to support a criminal enterprise The Act police and criminal justice sector confers new powers on the NCA and police •• developed our mutual legal assistance to seize and destroy drug cutting agents It relationship with the Emiratis which also strengthens the Computer Misuse Act enabled the first ever restraint and 1990 with respect to cyber crime offences in repatriation of criminal proceeds from the particular to ensure that sentences for attacks United Arab Emirates to the UK on computer systems fully reflect the damage they cause The Act received Royal Assent on •• supported and trained in partnership with the NCA CPS Royal Navy and US a 3 March 2015 specialist maritime unit in Tanzania and International capabilities and cooperation •• enhanced collaboration through the 2 15 All of the most serious crime threats Caribbean Criminal Asset Recovery we face are transnational We have expanded Project leading to the first prosecutions the UK’s overseas network which is for money laundering in the Caribbean comprised of NCA officers HM Revenue the seizure of £1 million of criminal cash Customs HMRC fiscal crime liaison officers and the restraint of £6 5 million of assets risk and airport liaison officers CPS criminal 2 17 In December 2014 the UK rejoined justice advisers and asset recovery advisers 35 EU police and criminal justice measures as well as diplomatic staff and personnel that enable us to work with our EU partners from the Department for International to disrupt organised criminality This 17 More information is available at www gov uk package includes Europol and a reformed government collections serious-crime-bill 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 14 20 03 2015 19 21 Part 2 Our Response  15  European Arrest Warrant which provides increased protections for British nationals wanted for extradition It also comprises Joint Investigation Teams which allow UK and European police forces to cooperate in cross-border operations such as Operation BIRKHILL This saw five criminals sentenced to a total of 36 years’ imprisonment last summer for their involvement in the degrading trafficking of over 120 women to the UK from Hungary the Czech Republic and Poland Foreign national offenders 2 18 About 13 per cent of known organised criminals in the UK are foreign nationals We are implementing new measures and using immigration powers to improve our ability to prevent those with a history of serious offending from entering the UK in the first place and taking action to remove those sentenced here 2 19 We have strengthened the links between our immigration visa and border security systems From April 2013 to March 2014 575 visa applications were refused for criminal reasons Operation NEXUS a joint police and Home Office partnership combines immigration and police intelligence to assess the threat risk and harm posed by foreign nationals offending in the UK This has enabled the removal of more than 3 300 individuals including 277 offenders considered to represent a serious threat In 2013 14 we deported over 5 000 serious offenders from the UK following prison sentences or court convictions 2 20 We are also using the European Criminal Records Information System ECRIS to identify the offending history of foreign nationals involved in serious and organised crime The number of checks on foreign nationals going through the UK’s criminal justice system has increased from 10 543 in 2011 12 to 61 040 in 2014 15 1 April to 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 15 31 December 2014 only largely due to the introduction of ECRIS in April 2012 The UK will connect to the second generation of the Schengen Information System in April 2015 giving us access to 35 000 alerts for people wanted for crimes in the EU and allowing UK law enforcement agencies to stop and arrest them at the border Priority crime types 2 21 In addition to progress against the specific objectives described in the Strategy we have prioritised activity to disrupt the threat from child sexual exploitation modern slavery and firearms as well as from fraud and illegal drugs Tackling child sexual exploitation 2 22 In August 2014 Professor Alexis Jay published a review of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham It showed that organised child sexual exploitation had been happening on a massive scale over many years Local agencies had dismissed concerns or put in place an inadequate response Louise Casey’s report of 4 February 2015 showed that even since the Jay report the Council and its local partners had continued to deny the scale of the problem and no real action had been taken to stop the abuse On 3 March 2015 the Government published its response18 to these failures detailing a series of practical steps that will lead to a cultural shift in tackling child sexual exploitation and supporting victims The measures contained in this report will improve how national and local government police children’s and health services and other partners work to pursue offenders increase protection and reduce the impact of this offending 2 23 Work to improve our response to other forms of sexual abuse has been published More information is available at https www gov uk government news home-secretary-publishesgovernment-response-to-rotherham-reports 18 20 03 2015 19 21 16  The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy – Annual Report for 2014 as part of the progress report of the National Group on Sexual Violence against Children and Vulnerable People 19 This report includes actions to improve the pursuit of offenders the safeguarding of victims making the internet safer for children and vulnerable people to use and making it more difficult for criminals to use online technology During 2013 over 1 900 people were prosecuted for offences involving the possession distribution publication or production of indecent images of children More than 1 600 were sentenced in the same year 20 The NCA safeguarded or protected over 1 300 children during its first year of operations agencies’ investigations into indecent images of children by providing a shared set of child abuse images and their associated “hashes” a unique numerical identifier so that forensic examinations of suspects’ devices can be conducted more quickly It will also enhance their ability to distinguish previously unknown images so that victims can be identified and safeguarded The CAID became operational in December 2014 2 25 We are building on these operational successes The Child Abuse Image Database CAID will improve law enforcement Tackling modern slavery and organised immigration crime 2 26 In May 2014 experts from the internet industry met under the leadership of a UK-US taskforce to generate novel technical ideas to address online child sexual exploitation and to disrupt offenders identify 2 24 In July 2014 the NCA announced victims and keep children safe while online details of an unprecedented operation against The Prime Minister subsequently hosted online child abusers Operation NOTARISE the #WePROTECT summit in December an ongoing UK-wide operation targeting 2014 to galvanise international action The individuals viewing and sharing online Summit secured practical commitments by indecent images of children has so far led to 47 countries two international organisations more than 700 arrests The NCA also worked 10 civil society organisations and 14 leading with authorities in the USA and Australia to companies to identify and protect victims break up an international crime group that and to strengthen global cooperation to track live-streamed child sexual abuse from the down perpetrators The Prime Minister also Philippines In December 2014 the Prime announced the establishment with UNICEF Minister committed an additional £10 million of a new child protection fund towards in 2015 16 to create further specialist teams which the UK has pledged £50 million over in the NCA to tackle those involved in the five years Forging strong partnerships with production or sharing of indecent images industry was a major theme and Microsoft He also announced the creation of a joint Facebook Google Yahoo and Twitter NCA-GCHQ team that will use the latest agreed to take further steps to detect and techniques and expertise to ‘track down’ the remove child sexual abuse material from their worst online abusers platforms and services 19 20 Home Office 2015 Sexual Violence Against Children and Vulnerable People National Group Progress Report and Action Plan 2015 Available at https www gov uk government publications sexual-violence-against-children-and-vulnerablepeople-progress-report Source Ministry of Justice Justice Statistics Analytical Services 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 16 2 27 Modern Slavery affects people all over the world including here in the UK We are committed to stamping out this abhorrent crime The Modern Slavery Bill21 will give law enforcement the tools to tackle modern slavery ensure that perpetrators can receive 21 More information is available at www gov uk government collections modern-slavery-bill 20 03 2015 19 21 Part 2 Our Response  17  suitably severe sentences and enhance support and protection for victims Subject to Parliamentary approval the Bill is expected to secure Royal Assent in March 2015 justice inspectorates as part of the 2014-16 inspection programme 2 30 We are also taking action at a national and international level to tackle 2 28 Legislation is only part of the the organised crime groups behind illegal answer In November 2014 we published migration For example a UK task force on our Modern Slavery Strategy setting out a organised immigration crime has been set cross-Government approach to combating up comprising NCA Border Force and 22 modern slavery This includes a stronger Immigration Enforcement officers This is law enforcement response led by the NCA sharing intelligence with French investigators coordinated international activity greater and strengthening the capability of the UK to awareness among frontline professionals and tackle organised criminal groups involved in closer working with the private sector and people smuggling and trafficking local communities The NCA is establishing a Tackling firearms new ‘Fusion Hub’ bringing key partners into a 2 31 Although offences involving firearms single multi-agency hub to share intelligence make up a small proportion of all recorded on modern slavery develop combined crime in the UK organised crime groups tactical assessments and drive operational have ready access to illegal firearms when outcomes The National Policing Lead for required The NCA and UK police forces Modern Slavery is coordinating work to are working closely to boost the intelligence strengthen the police response picture and to take firearms off our streets 2 29 Although convictions in this area are The UK has some of the toughest firearms increasing the number remains far too low laws in the world and the Anti-social In 2013 there were only 68 convictions Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 a small increase from the 41 convictions increased the maximum sentence to life in 2011 CPS data shows that in 2013 14 imprisonment for both the importation of 226 prosecution cases were flagged as illegal firearms and their possession for sale involving human trafficking offences more or transfer Other changes mean that anyone than double the number in 2010 11 103 who receives a prison sentence of more cases As a result the Government continues than three years can never legally possess a to support and challenge law enforcement firearm including antique firearms Work is to do more A new designate Independent underway to ensure that intelligence derived Anti-Slavery Commissioner was appointed from failed license applications is shared with in November 2014 to encourage good all relevant agencies practice and their annual report will include a 2 32 Following the terrorist attacks detailed assessment of the performance of in Paris in January we have proposed law enforcement In addition Her Majesty’s stronger EU‑wide efforts to tackle the illegal Inspectorate of Constabulary will lead a possession and trafficking of firearms The joint inspection of police forces’ response UK has continued to take a lead role in to modern slavery with the other criminal promoting greater collaboration in sharing 22 Home Office 2014 Modern Slavery Strategy and analysing ballistics forensic data among Available at https www gov uk government EU partners including through improved uploads system uploads attachment_data engagement with Europol and Interpol to file 383764 Modern_Slavery_Strategy_FINAL_ DEC2015 pdf 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 17 20 03 2015 19 21 18  The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy – Annual Report for 2014 increase the capacity of law enforcement agencies to trace firearms trafficked into and through Europe We are also working with EU partners to set more stringent standards for the deactivation of firearms so that it will be more difficult for them to be reactivated by criminals or terrorists Tackling fraud 2 33 Fraud due to organised crime costs the UK billions of pounds each year Action Fraud is the central route for individuals and businesses to report cyber and financial crime so that the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau can identify linked crimes undertake disruption activities or ensure they are tasked to the right police force for investigation To improve the response to reported fraud and cyber crime responsibility for Action Fraud was moved to the City of London Police in 2014 so that it was more closely linked with the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau In 2013 14 the City of London Police disseminated around 40 000 reports to local police forces for them to consider for investigation We expect this figure to rise this year as City of London Police implement a programme of improvements to ensure that more reported frauds and cyber crimes are tasked out to police force for investigation This will also enhance the service experienced by victims of fraud 2 34 In February 2014 the City of London Police supported by the NCA Serious Fraud Office SFO FCA and international partners arrested over 100 suspects in the UK Spain the US and Serbia as part of a coordinated investigation into so-called ‘boiler room’ frauds In June 2014 the SFO obtained convictions against two individuals – bringing the total to nine – for their role in the largest ‘boiler room’ fraud ever pursued 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 18 by a UK authority in which over £70 million was obtained fraudulently from UK investors In 2014 the SFO charged 13 individuals and secured the first conviction in connection with the manipulation of the London InterBank Offered Rate LIBOR and separately opened an investigation into allegations of fraudulent conduct in the foreign exchange market Tackling illegal drugs 2 35 Tackling the serious and organised criminals that import manufacture and deal drugs continues to be a priority for the NCA police forces and Border Force In its first year NCA-led and coordinated activity resulted in 711 drug-related arrests in the UK In 2013 14 there were 192 294 drug seizures made in England and Wales by the police and Border Force 23 2 36 In October 2014 the Home Office published the findings of an expert panel that examined how to enhance our legislative and wider response to the rise in new psychoactive substances 24 We accepted the majority of the recommendations and will be developing proposals for a blanket ban on the sale of new psychoactive substances We have maintained the Forensic Early Warning System allowing us to identify new substances and alert Border Force rapidly and continue to work with Crimestoppers to identify and close down cannabis factories 23 24 Home Office 2014 Seizures of Drugs in England and Wales 2013 14 Available at https www gov uk government uploads system uploads attachment_data file 367464 hosb0314snr pdf Home Office 2014 New Psychoactive Substances Review Report of the Expert Panel Available at https www gov uk government uploads system uploads attachment_data file 368583 NPSexpertReviewPanelReport pdf 20 03 2015 19 21 Part 2 Our Response  19  Prevent programme so that local partners can also work with parents and children who are at risk of getting involved in organised crime 2 37 We have established a new Prevent Experts on serious and organised crime have programme on serious and organised crime in England and Wales building on the lessons been added to the Ending Gangs and Youth Violence network and police forces and other we have learned from countering terrorism local stakeholders have been provided with and extremism It will take time for the full a toolkit to tackle gangs involved in crossimpact of this new approach to be felt in our communities and prisons and we will expand county drug dealing and child exploitation Work is being taken forward with the NCA our Prevent work in 2015 The Strategy set and National Policing Leads to develop an out the following objectives intelligence-driven response to this threat •• deter people from becoming involved 2 40 Criminals try to launder money through in serious and organised crime by the financial sector using ‘gatekeepers’ raising awareness of the reality and such as lawyers accountants and bankers consequences It is important that these professions •• use interventions to stop people being recognise the dangers of facilitating criminal drawn into different types of serious and activity whether knowingly or unwittingly organised crime while recognising that the vast majority of businesses act lawfully In partnership with •• develop techniques to deter people from the NCA and professional bodies in 2014 we continuing in serious and organised launched a campaign targeting approximately criminality and 130 000 solicitors to deter their potential •• establish an effective offender management framework to support work involvement in organised crime We plan to expand this campaign to other sectors on Pursue and Prevent in 2015 HMRC additionally manages an Deter people from becoming involved in education programme to improve businesses’ serious and organised crime awareness of fraud particularly in the financial sector 2 38 Our first aim under Prevent is to stop people from being drawn into serious and 2 41 The NCA delivered warning letters organised crime This requires strong local sent emails and conducted ‘cease and partnerships also see paragraph 2 5 and desist’ visits to over 600 UK-based individuals 2 6 We have put in place a series of Prevent who were known to have bought the pilot projects to develop the techniques Blackshades malware a remote access tool best practice and case studies necessary to able to take control of other users’ webcams identify and intervene proactively with those and steal passwords This Prevent activity individuals at risk This includes initiatives was coordinated with arrests to maximise the to mentor young people raise awareness deterrent impact and engage with women and girls We have 2 42 The NCA is examining the ways in set up a Frontline Team to support the local which child sex offenders undertake their delivery of these projects activities in order to develop innovative 2 39 We are working closely with existing methods to help prevent the threat programmes on gangs and troubled families We have expanded the Troubled Families 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 19 20 03 2015 19 21 20  The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy – Annual Report for 2014 Deter people from continuing in serious and organised criminality 2 43 We also want to stop serious and organised criminals from continuing to offend and to reduce reoffending by convicted criminals As of 30 September 2014 there were around 7 000 organised criminals in prison and about 40 per cent of known serious and organised crime groups had at least one member incarcerated The investigation and disruption of those intent on continuing their criminal activity in prison is being prioritised and coordinated through the regular sharing of details of offenders in custody and the National Offender Management Service’s NOMS participation in NCA tasking arrangements We are also expanding the existing prisons intelligence system Although the focus in 2014 has been on improving identification and disruption of ongoing criminality in prison we are also developing a broader lifetime management framework to manage more effectively the movement of offenders through the criminal justice system including upon their release from prison procuring additional mobile phone disruption and detection equipment for use across the prison estate The Serious Crime Act 2015 introduces new powers enabling courts to order mobile network operators to disconnect unauthorised mobile phones being used in prison 2 44 The NCA and College of Policing are developing material to include training on ancillary orders in Senior Investigating Officer training The Home Office is also working with the CPS and NCA to gather further data on the current use of these orders and why they are not being used as much as they could in order to inform future guidance and training These civil orders are powerful tools for preventing offending and include Serious Crime Prevention Orders Financial Reporting Orders and Travel Restriction Orders The Serious Crime Act 2015 also see paragraph 2 14 broadens the offences for which they can be used 2 45 Illicit mobile phones in prison make it easier for organised criminals to continue to commit crimes from behind bars NOMS is 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 20 20 03 2015 19 21 Part 2 Our Response  21  Protect 2 46 The wide-ranging Protect programme aims to reduce our vulnerability to serious and organised crime across government in the private sector and with the public Much of the programme is new and the scope and impact of our work will grow further in 2015 The Strategy set out the following objectives •• protect our borders from serious and organised crime •• protect national and local government from serious and organised crime •• improve protective security in the private sector by sharing intelligence on threats from serious and organised crime •• protect people at risk of becoming victims of serious and organised crime particularly from cyber crime and fraud •• improve our anti-corruption systems and •• strengthen systems for establishing identity so that serious and organised criminals are denied opportunities to exploit false or stolen personal data Protecting our border 2 47 A significant proportion of serious and organised crime involves the movement of people goods and money across the UK’s border with criminals seeking to exploit any potential vulnerabilities But the border also provides an important opportunity for law enforcement agencies to disrupt serious and organised criminal groups In 2014 we established new multi-agency teams at the border comprising representatives from Border Force Special Branch NCA and Immigration Enforcement Joint work has resulted in seizures and arrests that would not previously have been made 2 48 Border Force seized 3 2 tonnes of Class A drugs and 319 million cigarettes 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 21 at the border in 2013 14 25 Approximately 70 million couriered parcels and 7 million sea containers enter the UK each year To improve our ability to target suspicious freight consignments we are rolling out an Automated Freight Targeting Capability Border Force and the NCA are working with courier firms to bolster information sharing take action against parcels before they reach the UK and carry out more targeted operations at the border Protecting national and local government 2 49 HMRC administers the UK’s tax system and elements of the benefits system which are attractive targets for organised criminal groups HMRC uses a range of interventions to protect the UK from criminal attacks and pursue those that commit offences In 2013 14 HMRC prevented £2 9 billion of losses due to serious and organised criminality and is on track to exceed that figure this year 2 50 Public sector procurement contracts are also vulnerable to fraud We are working with local authorities supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government on a new project to improve their protection against criminals seeking to infiltrate their procurement processes We started four pilot projects in October 2014 to identify contracts at risk of fraud by comparing local authority data with information on organised crime groups This information will be used to aid police investigations remove suppliers and strengthen the procurement process to remove vulnerabilities and enable local authorities to make better risk judgements on certain contracts and services 25 Home Office 2014 Border Force Transparency Data Available at https www gov uk government publications border-forcetransparency-data-november-2014 20 03 2015 19 21 22  The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy – Annual Report for 2014 Working with the private sector 2 51 We have established closer partnerships with the private sector to help businesses protect themselves and their customers from economic crime and money laundering see paragraphs 2 12 and 2 13 A new Counter-Fraud Checking Service bringing together data from government and private sector organisations is being tested If agreed the scheme will allow HMRC the Department for Work and Pensions banks and insurers to pool data and undertake automatic fraud checks before transactions are agreed Protecting against cyber crime and fraud 2 52 GCHQ estimates that up to 80 per cent of cyber crime could be prevented through good security measures but given the scale of the online threat these need to be strengthened 2 53 Under Operation TOVAR the NCA worked with its UK and international partners including in industry to disrupt the Gameover ZeuS and CryptoLocker malware which have been responsible for global losses of hundreds of millions of pounds As a result banks reported a major drop in financial damages and the operation led to a 300-400 per cent increase in downloads of malware removal tools Separate NCA-coordinated operations dismantled much of the infrastructure used by the Shylock malware variant it is estimated that over £100 million was safeguarded against theft as a result 2 54 Since the launch of the Cyber Streetwise26 campaign in January 2014 around four per cent of adults surveyed stated they had changed their behaviour to adopt safer online practices such as using more secure passwords Nationally this this could be estimated as approximately 26 two million adults having changed their behaviour The second phase began in October 2014 with a greater focus on small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs So far awareness of Cyber Streetwise has doubled amongst SMEs indicating that cyber security is becoming an increasing priority Since October 2013 the NCA has reached over 3 4 million children with its Think U Know programme and trained over 800 ‘ambassadors’ to deliver messages in schools to help children stay safe online 2 55 In October 2014 and in partnership with the police we ran a pilot communications campaign called Spot It Stop It to encourage elderly people to protect themselves from financial crime This led to 15 per cent more of the target audience – equating to approximately 24 000 people – stating that they would be very likely to adopt the protective actions recommended by the campaign such as never giving out personal information and checking that people were from genuine organisations In October 2014 the FCA launched ScamSmart an advertising campaign to help consumers spot and protect themselves from investment scams HMRC continues to work with large businesses to improve their awareness of and protection against fraud 2 56 We are undertaking further research into the attitudes and behaviours that may make different groups of people in the UK more vulnerable to becoming victims of serious and organised crime such as attitudes to personal finances or online shopping  This analysis is due to be completed in spring 2015 It will inform the development and delivery of tailored national and local awareness and education programmes encouraging people to behave more safely More information is available at http www cyberstreetwise com 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 22 20 03 2015 19 21 Part 2 Our Response  23  Protecting against bribery and corruption 2 57 Corruption is one of the key enablers of serious and organised crime If left unchecked it damages communities and undermines the integrity of both public and private sector institutions and ultimately the legitimacy of the state So we have made it a priority over the past year to improve our response and address our vulnerabilities and corrupt activity The Small Business Enterprise and Employment Bill which will establish the register is currently being taken through Parliament 2 58 A new anti-corruption action plan was published in December 2014 to coordinate the work being undertaken across all government departments and agencies to tackle corruption in the UK and overseas The plan sets out a range of actions that government is taking including establishing a new specialist international corruption unit in the NCA to be a centre of expertise building a better picture of the threat to the UK from corruption overseas and strengthening our law enforcement response to international corruption and the laundering of criminal proceeds The NCA has also focused on tackling corruption in the UK In 2014 for example the NCA secured a number of convictions following criminal investigations into football match fixing The SFO secured 15 convictions including its first convictions under the Bribery Act It also secured the UK’s first ever conviction of a company charged with a corruption offence and it maintains its focus on both companies and individuals involved in serious or complex cases of corruption The FCA also took enforcement action in 2014 against a number of firms that had inadequate anti-corruption systems and controls 2 59 During the UK’s Presidency of the G8 in 2013 the Prime Minister announced that the UK would establish a public register of information on company beneficial ownership This will improve transparency and reduce the opportunities for criminals to misuse companies to facilitate money laundering 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 23 20 03 2015 19 21 24  The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy – Annual Report for 2014 Prepare 2 60 We have established a new Prepare strand to improve preparedness and to support victims and witnesses more effectively The Strategy set out the following objectives •• ensure that we have the necessary capabilities to respond to major serious and organised crime incidents and Response Team which was launched by the Cabinet Office on 31 March 2014 to develop and embed the national cyber security incident management process In the run up to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow the joint cyber response arrangements were agreed and tested by the UK and Scottish Governments Support communities victims and witnesses 2 64 A new statutory Code of Practice for Victims of Crime came into force in December 2013 27 The Code specifies the services and information that victims are entitled to receive from criminal justice Responding to serious and organised agencies from the moment they report a crime incidents crime to the end of the trial and beyond 2 61 Our work on Prepare reflects the reality Under the Code victims of the most serious that however effective our response serious crime persistently targeted victims and vulnerable and intimidated victims are and organised crimes will continue to occur entitled to enhanced services At the same We therefore need to be able to respond time the Government published a revised effectively to major incidents that have Witness Charter28 setting out the standards regional or national implications Learning of care for witnesses in the criminal justice from our counter-terrorism experiences we system Further intended improvements were established a new serious and organised described in Our Commitment to Victims 29 crime exercise and testing programme in 2014 This was developed jointly by the Home published in September 2014 which includes proposals for a new nationwide Victims’ Office NCA and national policing leads Information Service 2 62 The first seven-week exercise known 2 65 We have taken important steps to as SCARLET EXPLORER concluded in ensure that witnesses to crimes and other December 2014 This tested the ability of police forces the NCA ROCUs HMRC and 27 other partners to identify and then respond Ministry of Justice 2013 Code of Practice for to the most harmful organised crime groups Victims of Crime Available at https www gov uk government publications the-code-ofand individuals across a wide range of crime practice-for-victims-of-crime types The lessons from this exercise will 28 Ministry of Justice 2013 The Witness Charter be used to strengthen the local regional Standards of Care for Witnesses in the Criminal and national operational response to the Justice System Available at https www gov uk most serious threats and to inform future government publications the-witness-charterexercises standards-of-care-for-witnesses-in-the-criminal•• provide the communities victims and witnesses affected by serious and organised crime with effective criminal justice and other support 2 63 The second aspect of our preparedness work concerns the threat from cyber crime The Home Office worked closely with the UK’s Computer Emergency 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 24 29 justice-system Ministry of Justice 2014 Our Commitment to Victims Available at https www gov uk government publications our-commitment-tovictims-september-2014 20 03 2015 19 21 Part 2 Our Response  25  vulnerable people whose lives could be in danger are better protected A new UK Protected Persons Service was launched in October 2013 to provide enhanced protection and support to those most at risk The NCA’s Central Bureau works collaboratively with those regional police units that deliver the Service providing coordination direction and critical support This includes delivery of training and standards The new Service is built on better coordination and intelligence sharing between police forces and as a result provides more consistent and effective protection to those who need it across the UK 2 66 We have created a new Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise Group that connects government and law enforcement agencies to key partners and their wider networks linking together thousands of local regional and national organisations The Group met four times in 2014 to exchange information on serious and organised crime threats and to explore joint activity to tackle them This included the Spot It Stop It campaign see paragraph 2 55 in which Neighbourhood Watch Victim Support and Crimestoppers played a critical role in issuing protective messages to vulnerable people 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 25 20 03 2015 19 21 26  The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy – Annual Report for 2014 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 26 20 03 2015 19 21 Conclusion 27  CONCLUSION The launch of the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy alongside the establishment of the National Crime Agency demonstrates that this Government is prioritising work to tackle serious and organised crime The Strategy provides an effective framework for responding to the threats we face As this report shows the Government has continued to provide the NCA police forces and other law enforcement agencies with the powers and capabilities they need We have improved our understanding of the threat strengthened cooperation with partners invested in better capabilities and introduced important new legislation We have launched new programmes to prevent people from being drawn into serious and organised crime and to improve our preparedness The Strategy is having a positive impact on the ground and is a key part of the Government’s commitment to maintaining the safety and security of the UK public 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 27 20 03 2015 19 21 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 28 20 03 2015 19 21 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 29 20 03 2015 19 21 ISBN 978-1-4741-1689-3 9 781474116893 48576 Serious Organised Crime indd 30 20 03 2015 19 21