40 IMMIGRANT GANGS TAKING OVER UK'S CRIME

Sunday April 22,2007

By Michael Knapp, Home Affairs Editor

BRITISH security services are covertly tailing more than 40 criminal cells run by recent immigrants from eastern Europe.

The gangs, operating across the ­country, are understood to be involved in people trafficking, prostitution, money-laundering, extortion and drugs.
A well-placed Home Office source told the Sunday Express that the cells have thrived since Christmas when the UK open­ed its borders to EU newcomers Bul­garia and Romania.
The Government was repeatedly war­ned of a likely influx of criminals �?­particularly from Bulgaria, renowned as the most lawless nation on the continent.
It is understood two gangs have already had their bank accounts secretly frozen, after investigators found they had accrued more than £15million in just four months.
No arrests have yet been made. Last night Scotland Yard would not comment on the ongoing inquiries.

They're getting rich on our hospitality.

The Home Office source said: “The biggest thing I am seeing at the moment is the new Eastern Bloc citizens who are a criminal element. Currently, the main security services are tailing over 40 cells of criminals. Many of the ringleaders are making themselves rich on the back of this �?and our hospitality.
“Many of the criminal elements are now teaming up with their fellow countrymen who have been here for a couple of years.
“Many of the previous asylum seekers under suspicion, or those who have been convicted of crimes already, are now in cahoots with much bigger fish.�?/FONT> <FORM action=/search/>In 2003 Scotland Yard launched Oper­ation Maxim to fight immigration crime and last month it set up a human trafficking team to fight gangs who bring women to the UK to be sold as sex slaves.
Detective Superintendent Mark Ponting revealed girls as young as 14 were being sold into prostitution for up to £8,000.
Many end up in brothels, but police say there is an increasing trend for them to work in respectable suburban neighbourhoods. The Yard’s new unit is known to be working on two major inquiries in London but details are not being released.
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Mig­ration Watch, which campaigns against excessive immigration, said the inquiries could confirm fears that had been ex­pres­sed for many months.
Steve Moxon, a Home Office whistleblower and author of the book The Great Immigration Scandal, said: “The big problem of organised crime from Romania and Bulgaria was a key issue at the beginning of the unravelling of the immigration ­fiasco some three years ago.
“The then Immigration Minister, Bever­ley Hughes, had to resign after conveniently ‘forgetting�?she had been repeatedly warned about proven criminals from these two countries and sent reply letters on the issue, yet still allowed the literal ‘rubber stamping�?of all visa applications.
“I know, because I was one of the very officials forced to grant tens of thousands of obviously bogus visa forms without looking at them.
“The Home Office, of course, will not have the vaguest clue where all the Romanian and Bulgarian criminals are.
“We know they don’t keep track of known illegal migrants including failed asylum seekers, let alone dodgy builders, and, now, legal fellow EU citizens.�?BR>Last night the Home Office attempted to play down our revelations. A spokeswoman said: “Most eastern Europeans are law-abiding, but obviously some aren’t �?and we will be tough on them.
“We have been working for some time to stop organised crime and we remain ­committed to combatting it. “We are ­determined to ensure that the UK is a ­hostile environment for criminals.�?BR>But the Home Office source revealed that a further 4,700 failed asylum seekers went “missing�?in the last six months.
The total now stands at around 180,000 �?a figure that even Government ministers are unaware of.