Fraudster who used women to claim millions in benefits is jailed

Lithuanian gang leader smurfing the benefits system. A few more like this are going to turn up.

Organised Crime in central europe

I just came across this very useful overview on worldpress.org by Ioannis Michaletos. Reveals the key role played by Hungary and the Czech republic. there's a lot of stuff concentrated in this piece.

La Familia drug gang: Mexico says cartel 'in retreat'

Banners in several Mexican cities saying La Familia, the drug cartel, has disbanded.

Police hunt US bought guns smuggled in hold luggage

Man smuggled 62 guns into the UK. Mostly sold to gangs in the North-West, allegedly. Nice comment from Andy Hayman at the end. BBC commentator points out the disproportionate effect a few handguns can have on crime in the UK and accuses Americans of indifference to such a small number.

Soft Sufi, hard-rock militant

Third article in a series on the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Northern Afghanistan. Second is at : http://tinyurl.com/5torqkd The author,Syed Saleem Shahzad, is publishing a book with Pluto Press.

ACPO to be stripped of power to run operational units

and so it should be! A triumph for Scotland Yard, though. So the Metropolitan police win again. Interesting piece inclues the news that the Association of Police Authorities is refusing to fund ACPO in the future. Statement from Nick Herbert, Minister of State at the Home Office for the police.
My only problem here is the Guardian as source for this information. I will post pieces from other newspapers as and when they report it.

Chinese University offers anti-corruption course

A sign of changing times? We will know when the big trials start.

Caligula's tomb found after police arrest man trying to smuggle statue

A real life tomb raider caught in Italy.

Spanish police bust "biggest cocaine lab in Europe"

25 arrested. Details a bit sparse as yet. At last! Police bosses are back from their Christmas holidays. We might start to get some news about organised crime again.

Police net cocaine haul worth £3m

Local news. Police raid in Torquay finds a lot of cocaine. We will learn more at the trial.

The state's pedlars of fear must be brought to account

Another mega rant about ACPO and how out of control it is. Contains the information that it became a private company in 19997. Before the 2010 election, the right wing press ranted about how out of control it had become. Now its the turn of the centre-left.
This post and the previous one are occasioned by the discovery of a group of undercover officers who appear to have travelled Europe within the Green movement. No-one seems to be asking whether they had the permission of the other states concerned...or indeed if they needed it. Your blogger's suspicion is that they were OK'd by the police forces concerned. If they weren't then we have some interesting European arrest Warrants coming up!
As predicted, it's dissent, not terrorism that all these new powers will be used against.

Eco-terrorism: the non-existent threat we spend millions policing

A peroration by George Monbiot about the pernicious use of ACPO to serve the interests of big corporations rather than the public. The UK police has increasingly be transformed into a caricature of the French police. Can we ever get it back? Discuss

risks of cyberwar "over-hyped says OECD study

Report co-written by academics says words, as usual, are being over-stretched. Is it the media that are at fault or is someone trying to keep us terrified?

Children as young as 10 "groomed for sex by gangs"

Barnardo's the UK children's charity speaks out about domestic trafficking in children.

Al-Qaeda to unleash Western jihadis

Canadians, Germans, British and Americans training in North Waziristan for terrorist operations back in their home countries.

Liverpool's Farley brothers headed drug gang worth £2m a fortnight

Another Liverpool gang sentenced. two brothers in charge. No flash life style and not linked to violence. Article from Liverpool Echo contains a lot of speculation by police sources as to the extent of their operations.

Spanish reaction to ETA announcement

Article from el Pais. Lots of links to background articles at end of the piece.

ETA declares permanent ceasefire

Hmmm. Lets see how long this one lasts before rejoicing...

Meth flourishes despite tracking laws

Another role for smurfs!
Put a maximum on purchase of pseudoephedrine as a precursor chemical in the manufacture of meth and hey presto! You get a new role for smurfing and more people drawn into the network. When will these people learn to profile the conseuences of new laws before legislating?

Civitas report

Found it at last! i wrote book ten years ago that made the point that you had to include civilian support staff to get a true figure....But the author of the report is making a political point, I suspect.

Study shows strong link between police numbers and crime

I'm not sure it does, but Ive linked to this for the graphic. Still trying to link to the civitas report. The graphic compares relations between police numbers and crime rates across Europe

Grooming and our ignoble tradition of racialising crime

Piece from the Guardian about a series of articles this first week of 2011 published in the Times about child abuse in the Midlands and North of England. The Times now operates a paywall, so i cant link to the articles, but if you subscribe or your Library gets the hard copy, you may be interested in reading them, with the caveats expressed in this article.

How the US let al qaeda get its hands on an Iraqi weapons factory

Extract from a book by Dominic Streatfield "A History of the World since 9/11". The lesson appears to be that once central authority collapses, people will steal and sell everything available. How does the mechanism work? Is it an example of crowd rational economic behaviour a la Steve Reicher, or is there an organised crime network in embryo just waiting for the opportunity? Another possible PhD topic for somebody.

Third SGOC Summer School

The Third Summer School will be held in Macedonia 3rd-16th July. All details and contact emails are on the flyer, linked from the title of this post.

Hero Fireman jailed over £100 million drug ring

Interesting account of a cocaine distribution ring operating in and around London. 33 people have been sentenced for a variety of offences. Operation Eaglewood, involving the Met's Special Intelligence Section.