Government unveils ‘British FBI’
The government today unveiled plans to establish a new national crime unit to tackle serious and organised crime.
Dubbed the British FBI, the new unit will merge the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), the National Crime Squad and parts of HM Customs.
David Blunkett, the home secretary, said the move had come in response to the global nature of organised crime.
“We must become better organised, more sophisticated and more technologically capable than the criminals,” Mr Blunkett said.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) represents one of the biggest shake-ups of British policing for forty years.
Among the issues that the new agency will tackle are people smuggling and drug trafficking.
Earlier today police made five arrests in connection with the deaths of 19 cockle pickers in Morecombe Bay. Reports suggest the victims, who were caught by high tides, were working for a gang involved in people trafficking.
