British police warn immigrants about criminal gangs

Martin Bright and Tony Thompson:

One of Scotland Yard's most senior officers has issued a stark warning to Britain's immigrant communities that they must no longer tolerate organised international criminal gangs operating in their midst.

Assistant commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, who came to Britain as a refugee from Idi Amin's Uganda, said networks of criminals from eastern Europe and south Asia systematically abused the immigration system to operate illegal businesses.

He said that gangsters were making millions from people-trafficking, prostitution, drugs and counterfeiting while hiding within Britain's ethnic minority communities.

People in those communities were terrified of being targeted by the criminals, while others did not raise criticisms for fear of being branded as racists, added Ghaffur, one of Britain's most senior ethnic minority officers.

In an interview with The Observer, Ghaffur said he was particularly concerned about gangs from countries in the former Soviet bloc, such as Albania, where guns and lawlessness were a way of life.

'We are allowing certain communities to get out of control,' he said, adding that the police also faced critical problems with people from war zones: 'Boy soldiers from Sri Lanka can get into extreme violence. That is very difficult to police.'

The 'shop-front' businesses for these crime networks often appeared innocent, he added: 'The growth of cafes, beauty parlours, car washes, sex shops, tanning salons and nail parlours is unregulated and economic migrants are being trafficked in to do this work.'

He estimated that organised crime was costing £22 billion a year and called on ethnic minority communities to co-operate with the police because most of the victims of the gangs were themselves immigrants.

Ghaffur said he realised his comments would spark controversy, but added: 'I was a refugee. I am often able to put myself in their shoes and find appropriate ways of relating to the communities. More importantly, I can give out tough messages when sometimes my other colleagues may feel inhibited.'

Ghaffur has been taking his message to communities from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. 'I have been talking very tough in the south Asian community,' he said. 'Every indicator is showing an upward trend [in criminal activity].

'Talking directly to ethnic minority communities about crime and criminality, where often victims and perpetrators come from the same communities, should not be a problem.'

He said that his comments should not be viewed as an attack on vulnerable people fleeing persecution or coming to Britain for a better life: 'Most people come for economic reasons and make a huge contribution. However, we are aware that people are trafficked in, where they often have to pay large premiums, or are sold false documents and are then being used in illegal activities. These people are victims exploited by organised traffickers, many of whom do not live in the UK. This is why we need to work with national and international law enforcement agencies to dismantle their networks.'

He warned that his comments should not be used by politicians and the media to whip up hysteria around immigrants: 'We should be very careful about stereotyping communities which are often themselves disadvantaged. It creates a feeling of injustice and makes these communities less amenable to co-operating.'

In the past five years at least 10 Tamil men have been murdered in the UK. Almost all the victims and perpetrators moved to London as refugees. Forced into poverty, some of the Sri Lankans set up gangs and engaged in petty crime, mainly credit card fraud.

The violence came out of friction between rival gangs. Victims were stabbed, shot or burned to death. One victim, 18-year-old Supenthar Ramachandran, was made to buy his assailants a meal before being beaten to death, covered in petrol and set alight.

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