Britain is home to nearly 5,000 criminal gangs, but the old family-run outfits have been replaced by multinational, tech-savvy enterprises. According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), an estimated £90bn of criminal money is laundered through the UK each year, equivalent to 4% of GDP. London has become the global capital of money-laundering and the hub of European organised crime, with English now the lingua franca of the international underworld.
Steve Rodhouse, the NCA’s head of operations, says the two biggest changes in the past 25 years are the international nature of crime and technology. “Pretty much all of the NCA’s most significant ‘high-harm’ operations now involve people, commodities or money transferring across international borders,” he explains. The concept of “polycriminality” means gangs no longer specialise in one area, such as drugs or firearms, but exploit multiple markets.
Former Europol chief Sir Rob Wainwright notes that the mafia model has been replaced by a “more nimble” structure, with 180 nationalities operating across Europe. He compares the impact of the internet on crime to that of the motorcar in the 1920s and 30s, enabling criminals to escape at speed and access new markets. The dark web alone sells 350,000 illegal items, 60% of which are drugs, alongside guns and pornography.
Britain now deals with drug imports from over 30 countries, up from half a dozen in the past. Young people who might once have sought a trade apprenticeship now see drug dealing as a better career prospect. Criminal networks also facilitate the trafficking of women from eastern Europe and Africa for prostitution, and children from Vietnam as low-level drug workers.
The NCA estimates that organised crime provides hundreds of thousands of jobs, not just for criminals but for police, prison officers, lawyers, and security personnel. As Rodhouse puts it, “These are businesses and people are looking to exploit markets, so why confine yourself to one market?”
