Organised criminal gangs in Northern Ireland are diversifying and finding new methods to increase their gains, a report has warned.
The findings of the Organised Crime Task Force (OCTF) said the newer forms of crime included dealing in crack cocaine, human trafficking and a range of new internet-related offences.
According to the OCTF, in the last year more than £37 million (€54.7 million) in assets have either been seized or frozen, £22 million worth of illegal drugs have been taken off the streets and more than £3 million in counterfeit goods confiscated.
The taskforce report, published yesterday, includes an appeal from Northern Ireland Office Minister Paul Goggins for public support in the fight against organised crime and new levels of co-operation with the PSNI.
The report looks at the persistence of crime in a number of key areas, including fraud and money laundering, public sector fraud especially in relation to expenditure programmes, tax and duty evasion, drug trafficking, counterfeiting, human trafficking and extortion. It also points to the persistence of organised crime especially within the ranks of the loyalist paramilitary groups.
According to figures supplied by the Home Office in London, fraud is second only to class A drug trafficking in terms of its danger to the public.
It estimates the cost of fraud across the UK as £13.9 billion which represents about £330 per head of population. However, it is also acknowledged that this represents a significant underestimate of the true total due to the extent of under-reporting of criminal incidents.
It estimates "oils fraud", which includes cross-Border smuggling and the laundering of tax-rebated fuels at illegal plants, at about £280 million.
The report also highlights the extent of currency counterfeiting, noting that 50 types of banknotes are in common circulation in the North.
Such an extent means that detection of good quality counterfeit notes in both sterling and euro denominations is made even more difficult. It also warns that the quality of counterfeit currency is increasing and pledges the authorities to work more closely with the North's banks, the Bank of England, commercial banks in the Republic and the Central Bank in Dublin.
To tackle changing and emerging forms of organised crime the OCTF cites an 11-point plan, referred to as "the way forward".
This includes the merger of the Assets Recovery Agency into the Serious and Organised Crime Agency and the implementation of the NI Assets Recovery Plan. The report also points to the UK Serious Crime Bill, now waiting royal assent, which it says will sharpen the offensive against organised crime.
It concludes that key threats to be countered in the year ahead are expected to emerge in the areas of armed threats to cash-in-transit; drugs, excise and tax frauds; extortion, blackmail and intimidation; and intellectual property crime.