Report - Crime gangs rampant in N. Ireland

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Criminal gangs led by Protestant extremists and the Irish Republican Army are making millions of dollars and casting a shadow over the Northern Ireland economy, the British government said in a report Wednesday.

The government said about 100 gangs with 700 people smuggle fuel and cigarettes, peddle drugs, rob armored vans and commit a host of other crimes. The report, released at an international crime conference of organized-crime experts in Belfast, said illegal paramilitary groups were involved in two-thirds of the gangs.

It named the Irish Republican Army, rooted in militant Catholic areas, and the Ulster Defense Association in the worst Protestant areas. The task force rated the IRA as the biggest earner with estimated revenues of $13 million-$21 million last year.

"The exact scale and scope of extortion and racketeering is hard to assess, but it is widespread in Northern Ireland and its impact on businesses, individuals and the community as a whole is significant," Assistant Chief Constable Chris Albiston, a deputy commander of the Northern Ireland police force, told the conference.

Ron Goldstock, a New York organized crime expert who advises the British government in Northern Ireland, said the province's underground organizations had many advantages over "ordinary" criminals.

"The groups start off with a bad reputation and there's enormous value in having a bad reputation. It's the fear factor," said Goldstock, who spent 13 years on a New York task force fighting organized crime.

Witness protection programs proved effective in New York City, but in Northern Ireland "people know each other and witness protection is much more difficult."

The report said Protestant extremists ran 80 percent of extortion rackets against businesses, especially building contractors. Demands for protection money represented "a significantly under-reported crime," it said.

The report estimated that more than $225 million of counterfeit goods, such as DVDs and CDs, were sold last year in Northern Ireland.

Two-thirds of Northern Ireland's gas stations sell fuel that illegally avoids British taxation, often because it has been smuggled from the neighboring Republic of Ireland, according to Donald Toom of British Customs and Excise.

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On the Net:

Report on crime in Northern Ireland: http://www.nio.gov.uk/pdf/octfassess.pdf