PSNI assistant chief constable Mr Chris Albiston said 42 organised crime networks were disrupted by police operations since the Organised Crime Task Force was established in September 2000.
A multi-pronged attack is clamping down on organised crime, the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, said yesterday as he announced plans to create a new agency similar to the South's Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).
Dr Reid pledged that an Assets Recovery Agency would be established this year. The British government, impressed by the success of CAB, is to establish its own agency on a UK basis, with one office covering Northern Ireland and the other dealing with organised crime in Britain.
With the Police Service of Northern Ireland, British Customs and Excise, the Inland Revenue, the British National Criminal Intelligence Service and other agencies organised crime was being tackled in a concerted fashion, said Dr Reid.
The agencies were cracking down on armed crime, on drugs dealers, on the sale of counterfeit goods, on tobacco, alcohol, oil and tobacco smuggling, and on money laundering.
About £4 million of fake designer clothing, CDs and games were seized by the PSNI last year, which was more than that seized by all other UK police forces, said Mr Albiston. The drug squad mounted nearly 200 operations resulting in 81 arrests and £5.5 million worth of drugs seized. Millions of litres of laundered fuel were also confiscated.
Half of all criminal networks involved republican and loyalist paramilitaries, he added. "It's important to confront all aspects of organised crime regardless of the background of the criminals," said Mr Albiston.
Dr Reid said a grip was tightening on organised crime. "No effort will be spared in the fight against the tyranny of gangsterism in Northern Ireland," he added.
"PSNI and customs are at the operational cutting edge and their successes in the first full year of the Organised Crime Task Force in dealing telling blows against organised crime in terms of seizures and the disruption and dismantling of criminal gangs is testimony to their great commitment to this task," he added.
Dr Reid said the proposed Assets Recovery Agency would have the power to confiscate the multi-million pound "assets of criminals whose extravagant life styles are an affront to us all".
Dr Reid said the police and customs had many successes in the battle against crime. Earlier this week four people were arrested in an alleged £10 million fraud in the construction industry.
Dr Reid has invited Prof Ron Goldstock, former head of the New York Organised Crime Task Force, to draw on his experience to help build cross-community support against crime. He has particular expertise in combating Mafia crime.
"As encouraging as this year has been, let no one be in any doubt that we are in for the long haul," warned Dr Reid. "Levels of organised crime are unacceptably high. Organised crime is characterised by its capacity to adapt increasingly sophisticated methods and we must be even more sophisticated and determined in our response."
The Policing Board chairman, Prof Desmond Rea, said the multi-agency approach to organised crime was successful.
"Organised crime is a serious threat to everyone in our society but the strategic priorities set here will ensure that key areas of concern are tackled robustly," he added.
