OCTF

In Northern Ireland we are a member of the Organised Crime Task Force.
We have established partnerships with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and HM Revenue & Customs.

We have also established a very close working relationship with the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) of An Garda Síochána in the Irish Republic. CAB officers have assisted ARA with advice on the establishment of the Agency. The two agencies have also worked closely together on a number of cases which have a cross-border dimension.

OCTF Annual Report 2006

The Organised Crime Task Force, of which the Assets Recovery Agency is a member, launched its Annual Report and Threat Assessment for 2006 in June 2006. Speaking at the launch, Northern Ireland Security Minister Paul Goggins said: "Organised crime is big business in Northern Ireland and it’s our job to put it out of business.

"Make no mistake, organised crime is harmful and impacts on every man woman and child. It creates victims in every part of the community, from shop keepers robbed at gunpoint, to families destroyed by drugs, to citizens whose safety and livelihoods are jeopardised by counterfeit goods or extortionists.

"The Government through the OCTF is totally committed to relentlessly pursuing organised criminals from whatever source.

"It is because we want to protect our communities, our environment, our public services and honest businesses and jobs that we are putting so much effort into tackling organised crime."

Successes of the OCTF in 2005/06 include:

Over £30 million of assets restrained;
Over £10 million of counterfeit goods seized;
Almost £10 million of drugs seized.

OCTF assesses the principal threats for 2006/7 to be:

Money laundering; Armed robbery & cash-in-transit attacks; Drugs; Excise & tax frauds (including oils fraud); Extortion, blackmail &intimidation; Intellectual property crime (counterfeiting); and Illegal dumping.

The OCTF Annual Report and Threat Assessment 2006 can be accessed here.

Public Events

Alan McQuillan was a speaker at a public information evening on tackling organised crime in Armagh on Tuesday 16th May.

The event was hosted by Armagh District Policing Partnership and supported by the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

The purpose of the meeting was to raise public awareness of the fight against organised crime. Members of the public were given the opportunity to hear about how the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA), Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) are working together to tackle criminals engaged in cross-border money laundering, organised crime, vehicle theft, and other serious offences which affect local communities.