Nearly 80 organised crime gangs - almost half with no paramilitary links - have been identified as operating in Northern Ireland, according to a major report published today.
A special task force set up by the British government to challenge the murky world of the crime gangs said they were reaping hundreds of millions of pounds a year from their illegal activities.
In their first report - The Threat to Northern Ireland Society from Serious and Organised Crime- the task force said 78 groups, involving some 400 members, had been identified by police.
It said 43 of the crime gangs had current or historical links to republican or loyalist paramilitary organisations, but significantly 35 had no such known connections.
The task force is to target the top 20 criminals in a first step towards putting the gangs out of business. Insiders say taking those men off the streets wouldsignificantly affect the crime world.
The report said a co-ordinated approach was needed to tackle the gangs and warned: "If unchecked, organised crime has the potential to be a barrier to the development of a normal civic society in Northern Ireland."
Northern Ireland Security Minister Mr Adam Ingram, who is heading the Task Force, said the report "shines a light into the dark side of Northern Ireland and exposes some of the criminal legacy of the troubles".
Publication of the assessment of the problem and strategy for confronting the threat marked an important step in the process of tackling "the mafia-like virus which infects Northern Ireland society", he said.
The task force was set up last September by former Northern Ireland Secretary Mr Peter Mandelson. He said it would attack the racketeering, smuggling and drug-dealing feeding the egos and financing paramilitarism.
PA