Latest news with #OCTF
BreakingNews.ie
a day ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Almost 500 potential victims of human trafficking identified in Northern Ireland
Almost 500 potential victims of modern human trafficking were identified in Northern Ireland over the last year, a new report has found. The Annual Report and Threat Assessment for the Organised Crime Task Force (OCTF) says that the 496 potential victims, 338 males and 158 females, were referred to the National Referral Mechanism, a UK framework to identify and support victims. Advertisement The figure represented a slight decrease on the previous financial year (2022/23), when 530 referrals were received, however the general trend was described as remaining upward. The Organised Crime Task Force's annual results have been welcomed by @Justice_NI Minister Naomi Long. Further information and the full report is available on the Department's website — Justice NI (@Justice_NI) August 7, 2025 It also records that during the financial year 2023-24 some 61 organised crime groups operating in Northern Ireland were being investigated by PSNI. These gangs were assessed as working alongside others across the UK, Republic of Ireland and other parts of Europe. There were 222 arrests by PSNI related to organised crime groups, 8,472 drug seizures, and 187 restraint orders, cash seizures, lifted assets and account freezing orders were made. Advertisement Cocaine was the most seized Class A drug in Northern Ireland, accounting for 94% of all incidents involving Class A drugs. Meanwhile the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) recorded 427 cyber crime reports in Northern Ireland, most relating to the hacking of social media and email accounts, with reported losses of £263,300. However this figure was described as 'likely to be a significant underestimation', with under-reporting an issue. Justice Minister Naomi Long hailed 'another year of excellent results'. Advertisement 'I am grateful for all the agencies involved in delivering another year of excellent results and for their continued, relentless efforts to tackle organised criminality and seize the proceeds of crime,' she said. 'Organised crime groups show no regard for the harm they are causing to individuals and communities, they are only interested in lining their own pockets. 'As the results of OCTF partner agencies' joint operations show, the harm caused to individuals and communities by these criminals will not be tolerated.' She added: 'It is assessed that 75% of organised crime groups are involved in the supply of drugs, so police alone seizing drugs with an estimated street value of £21m, with Border Force and National Crime Agency involved in further seizures, is a significant blow to these groups. Advertisement 'The excellent work and persistence in pursuing criminals who set out to exploit, threaten and spread misery across communities should not be underestimated, but everybody's help is needed to combat organised crime.'
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Irish Examiner
Almost 500 potential victims of human trafficking identified in Northern Ireland
Almost 500 potential victims of modern human trafficking were identified in Northern Ireland over the last year, a new report has found. The Annual Report and Threat Assessment for the Organised Crime Task Force (OCTF) says that the 496 potential victims, 338 males and 158 females, were referred to the National Referral Mechanism, a UK framework to identify and support victims. The figure represented a slight decrease from the previous financial year (2022/23), when 530 referrals were received; however, the general trend was described as remaining upward. It also records that during the financial year 2023-24, some 61 organised crime groups operating in Northern Ireland were being investigated by the PSNI. These gangs were assessed as working alongside others across the UK, the Republic of Ireland and other parts of Europe. There were 222 arrests by PSNI related to organised crime groups, 8,472 drug seizures, and 187 restraint orders, cash seizures, lifted assets, and account freezing orders were made. Cocaine was the most seized Class A drug in Northern Ireland, accounting for 94% of all incidents involving Class A drugs. Meanwhile, the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) recorded 427 cybercrime reports in Northern Ireland, most relating to the hacking of social media and email accounts, with reported losses of £263,300. However, this figure was described as 'likely to be a significant underestimation', with under-reporting an issue. Justice Minister Naomi Long hailed 'another year of excellent results'. 'I am grateful for all the agencies involved in delivering another year of excellent results and for their continued, relentless efforts to tackle organised criminality and seize the proceeds of crime,' she said. 'Organised crime groups show no regard for the harm they are causing to individuals and communities; they are only interested in lining their own pockets. 'As the results of OCTF partner agencies' joint operations show, the harm caused to individuals and communities by these criminals will not be tolerated.' She added: 'It is assessed that 75% of organised crime groups are involved in the supply of drugs, so police alone seizing drugs with an estimated street value of £21m, with Border Force and National Crime Agency involved in further seizures, is a significant blow to these groups. 'The excellent work and persistence in pursuing criminals who set out to exploit, threaten and spread misery across communities should not be underestimated, but everybody's help is needed to combat organised crime.'
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Almost 500 potential victims of human trafficking identified in Northern Ireland
Almost 500 potential victims of modern human trafficking were identified in Northern Ireland over the last year, a new report has found. The Annual Report and Threat Assessment for the Organised Crime Task Force (OCTF) says that the 496 potential victims - 338 males and 158 females - were referred to the National Referral Mechanism, a UK framework to identify and support victims. The figure represented a slight decrease on the previous financial year, covering 2023 to 2023, when 530 referrals were received. However, the general trend was described as remaining upward. It also records that during the financial year 2023-2024 some 61 organised crime groups operating in Northern Ireland were being investigated by PSNI. These gangs were assessed as working alongside others across the UK, Republic of Ireland and other parts of Europe. There were 222 arrests by PSNI related to organised crime groups, 8,472 drug seizures, and 187 restraint orders, cash seizures, lifted assets and account freezing orders were made. Cocaine was the most seized Class A drug in Northern Ireland, accounting for 94 per cent of all incidents involving Class A drugs. Meanwhile, the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) recorded 427 cyber crime reports in Northern Ireland, most relating to the hacking of social media and email accounts, with reported losses of £263,300. This figure was described as 'likely to be a significant underestimation', with under-reporting an issue. The North's minister for justice Naomi Long hailed 'another year of excellent results' by law enforcement. 'I am grateful for all the agencies involved in delivering another year of excellent results and for their continued, relentless efforts to tackle organised criminality and seize the proceeds of crime,' she said. 'Organised crime groups show no regard for the harm they are causing to individuals and communities, they are only interested in lining their own pockets. 'As the results of OCTF partner agencies' joint operations show, the harm caused to individuals and communities by these criminals will not be tolerated. 'It is assessed that 75 per cent of organised crime groups are involved in the supply of drugs, so police alone seizing drugs with an estimated street value of £21m, with Border Force and National Crime Agency involved in further seizures, is a significant blow to these groups. 'The excellent work and persistence in pursuing criminals who set out to exploit, threaten and spread misery across communities should not be underestimated, but everybody's help is needed to combat organised crime.' - PA
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Chinese marijuana grows an ongoing problem
At the end of last year, a Chinese citizen, who also resided in Brooklyn, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy in Oklahoma. His co-conspirator was also sentenced to 120 months. U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester announced that on June 6, 2023, a federal grand jury charged Jeff Weng and co-defendant Tong Lin with conspiracy to possess marijuana plants with intent to distribute. On Jan. 18, 2024, after a two-day trial, a federal jury deliberated about an hour before it found Weng and Lin guilty of drug conspiracy. "This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office, along with assistance from the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics," states Troester's announcement. "It is also a part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation." Phil Bacharach, director of Communications in the Oklahoma Attorney General's office, said that shortly before 2023, there were more than 12,000 licensed marijuana grows in Oklahoma. "Now, there are fewer than 2,800. We do believe a large part of the success in eradicating illegal marijuana grows is the Attorney General Office's Organized Crime Task Force, which AG [Gentner] Drummond established, and its partnerships with federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement," Bacharach said. "Since the OCTF formation, that work has resulted in 30 indictments, 49 arrests and the confiscation of nearly 227,000 marijuana plants – nearly 110,000 pounds." In response to TDP's question as to whether most of the operations are from elsewhere, Bacharach said the OCTF investigators are finding that much of the control and direction of these illegal marijuana grows are coming from out of state. "We credit tips and the OMMA both," Bacharach said. "It is worth noting that people can register anonymous tips with the AG's office at Bacharach said. He said the cases are all very different, and some multilayered cases can take nearly two years just to fully investigate. "Many of the workers we find are illegal immigrants, but often it is not clear whether they know they are part of an illegal marijuana grow operation," Bacharach said. District Attorney Jack Thorp, District 27, said his office does not know if there are Chinese operations in the Cherokee County area. "Part of that is a good chunk of that work is being handled by the Oklahoma Attorney General's Organized Crime Unit and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics unit," Thorp said. "When they get a target, they tell us and we get involved." Thorp said that in the past, his office has worked on the cases deed-to-deed, but since the AG office put the task force together, his office has stepped back and the AG's office has taken the lead. "We set a specific search parameter and searched actual land deals and deeds that appeared to be potentially suspicious during the initial phase of medical marijuana," Thorp said. "Through that process, we believe we identified 63 illegal grows in Cherokee County." Thorp's office works hand-in-hand with the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority for information on permitting of operations. "There was an operation we were doing about four years ago, where we positioned a person in the OMMA office just to make sure, because these operators were switching these licenses back and forth so fast," Thorp said. "And just as we were getting ready to hit, the license had shifted to a different person." What has happened from those days to now is more cooperation between the OBN and OMMA, and they have dual licensing requirements, Thorp said. "You have to have an OBN license and an OMMA license in order to have these operations," Thorp said. "There has to be certain inspections made and there is some true tracking from seed-to-sell, when people do it correctly." Before those agencies were working together, one agency would have to be checked with and then the other, Thorp said. Thorp said a lot of legislation has been written and passed over the past couple of years on the legal issues of grow operations. "From the beginning of the legalization – the quote from the Colorado Narcotics investigators that came down and did some of the initial training was, 'Oklahoma was the wild, wild West as it related to marijuana,'" Thorp said. "We were growing 10 times more than we could ever supply to all of the licensed dispensaries." Well over half of the grow operations are out of business since the startup of the task force, Thorp said. "There was a situation where a couple of lawyers were investigated and ultimately charged for setting up straw-person operations," Thorp said. Thorp responded to a question from TDP, as to whether there have been any Chinese operations in his district. "I'm sure there was, yes. I was thinking back on the one we were about to hit – it was Hmong," Thorp said. "We've had allegations and investigations into a large Bulgarian group that has been our focus of investigation that I can't get into because it's an ongoing investigation." Thorp's new first assistant district attorney, Rick Incremona, was the Eastern Oklahoma prosecutor for some organized crime cases. "So he had quite a bit of information," Thorp said. "We had a pending case in Wagoner involving him as a prosecutor and there are some cases in Muskogee, Ottawa and LeFlore counties, but none in Cherokee, Adair or Sequoyah counties." Porsha Riley, director of communications with OMMA, said OMMA agents are assigned to the AG's OCTF, and play an active role in combating marijuana-related criminal activity. "We also collaborate closely with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to strengthen enforcement efforts," Riley said.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
AG Drummond addresses illegal operations in Cleveland County
CLEVELAND COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – Oklahoma's Attorney General's Organized CrimeTask Force (OCTF) on Wednesday announced the recent seizure of illegal marijuana operationsat three farms in Cleveland County. According to Drummond's Office, three illegal marijuana farms in Cleveland County werebusted in coordination with multiple law enforcement agencies capturing 65 pounds ofprocessed marijuana and nearly 29,000 plants. Amber Alert canceled for missing 14-year-old boy, found safe, suspect in custody OCTF agents confirm the investigation begin in March after receiving a tip concerningsuspicious grow activities near 183rd Street in Lexington. Attorney General Gentner Drummond commended the collaborative work of the agencies. 'This coordinated operation demonstrates our firm commitment to rooting out illegalmarijuana operations across our state,' he said. 'These illicit grow operations oftenserve as fronts for organized crime and pose significant threats to public safetyand our environment. We will remain vigilant in our efforts to shut down thesecriminal enterprises.' Drummond's latest release says, two Chinese nationals, Ruibin Wu and Xihai Yin, were arrested on the following charges: Aggravated manufacturing Possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute Possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony If you have a tip on suspected illegal marijuana operations click this online form. Click Ruibin Yu and Xihai Yin to read specific charges. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
