And we can reveal that members of both the Camorra and Calabria Mafia are already living and operating here.

For the past 18 months officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) have been trying to track down and trace at least five Camorra mobsters.

Police believe they are based in Lancashire and could spark turf wars and commit serious “high level” crimes.

Intelligence indicates that members of the rival Calabria Mafia – more discreet but every bit as ruthless – also operate in the North of England.

A source said: “They are two of Italy’s most hardened Mafia gangs and if they come across each other anywhere there could be serious bloodshed.”

The five Camorra members in Lancashire are understood to have links to two other prominent mobsters who lived here but are now behind bars.

Mafia “godfather” Gennaro Panzuto, 34, lived in a £200,000 rented semi in Catterall, near Garstang, Lancs, when he was arrested 18 months ago.

He had fled to the UK in 2006 following a bloody turf war in Naples and was wanted over four murders.

Associate Giuseppe Persico, 34, lived in nearby Chorley for two years, before being arrested in Portugal and extradited to face serious charges.

Last night Lancashire police took the unusual step of appealing for information on the Camorra suspects – who may have used budget airlines to “slip off the radar” as they travelled to the UK.

Lancashire police warned: “These people could be involved in serious and organised crime at the highest level and we would ask anyone who knows who they are to contact us immediately.

“We are convinced there are people in Lancashire who have knowledge of individuals linked to the Italian Mafia.”

The Naples-based Camorra – the most brutal of all Italian Mafia gangs – makes its money from extortion, money-laundering and drugs and has been blamed for 4,000 murders in the past 30 years.

Not even the Sicilian “Cosa Nostra”, which hit the headlines in the UK when it was revealed that Manchester housewife Ann Hathaway, 45, was married to one its top mobsters, is as ruthless.

The Calabria – based south of Naples – is notoriously hard to infiltrate because it is linked by blood ties and marriage.

Italian criminologist Franco Rizzuto said: “The Camorra is different from the Sicilian Mafia. They are more brutal.”

A police source said: “It is paramount we catch these individuals.

“The worst case scenario would be a clash with another gang.”

UK ON ALERT OVER MAFIA TURF WARS – 18th January 2009 – By Jonathan Corke – This story was found at: http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/66269/UK-on-alert-over-Mafia-turf-wars/

Officers have been accumulating intelligence on individuals over the past 18 months which has been passed on to Italian authorities for offences committed abroad.

Police suspect there are a number of people living within the county who have links to Italian organised crime groups, some of which are currently under investigation for serious criminality including witness intimidation and money laundering.

Detectives said the investigations led to the arrest of Chorley man Giuseppe Persico, 34 at Faro Airport, Portugal, on behalf of the Italian authorities for drug trafficking in October 2008.

A police spokesperson said: “We are convinced that there are people in Lancashire who have knowledge about individuals that are linked to the Italian mafia.

“These people could be involved in serious and organised crime at the highest level and I would ask anyone who knows who these people are, or has any information that could help with our inquires to contact us.

“We rely on the help of our local communities to come forward and tell us what they know. “ Information to police on 08451 25 35 45 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Police probe Mafia links in Lancashire – 3:33pm Monday 12th January 2009 – By Sally Henfield – This story was found at: http://www.thelancasterandmorecambecitizen.co.uk/news/4041428.Police_probe_Mafia_links_in_Lancashire/

Giuseppe Persico, 34, who worked for Adlington removals firm Andrew Porter Ltd, was arrested in a swoop by Portuguese police after landing at Faro Airport following the issue of an international warrant.

Andrew Porter Ltd employs 150 people and work colleagues had no idea that Persico was a member of the Naples Mafia known as Camorra and was wanted by the Italian authorities for drug trafficking in Italy.

Lancashire Police have confirmed he was convicted of the offences after his arrest on October 17.

Officers also revealed Persico is a known associate of Gennaro Panzuto – the Mafia godfather who was arrested for four murders, at his home in Catterall, Garstang, in 2007 on an international warrant.

A stunned friend of Persico’s who did not wish to be named, said: “He lived and worked in Chorley for the last two years. He was mates with the man arrested in Catterall.”

Persico is believed to have come to England to live with an English girlfriend. When the relationship broke down he found a job at Andrew Porter Ltd removals firm.

The long established firm employs 150 people and he stopped working for them when he didn’t turn up for work one day.

Through a workmate there he met his former housemate whose mother lent them both cash to rent a house on Geoffrey Street for six months.

Persico is said to have hauled his double bed a mile from his other house in Chorley to the house on Geoffrey Street after becoming annoyed when help to move his belongings did not arrive.

However Persico failed to pay back his housemate’s mum and the pair parted when the six months was up.

Another source, who did not wish to be named, said: “He didn’t seem an outgoing person. He’s been here at least two years, probably more like three.

“Once he borrowed a friend’s car and was caught on four speed cameras in one day – and was banned from driving.”

Unknown to his friends in Chorley, Persico was an associate of Gennaro Panzuto, who has been convicted of four murders connected to a bloody mob war following his extradition to Italy to stand trial.

Panzuto was the head of the powerful Pincirillo clan, part of the Camorra Mafia.

The Camorra is a Mafia-like criminal organisation, or secret society, originating in Naples in Italy.

It is said to finance itself through drug trafficking, extortion, protection and racketeering and its activities have led to high levels of homicide in areas in which it operates.

It is the oldest organized criminal organization in Italy and consists of several different “clans”

During Panzuto’s time as leader his clan became embroiled in a deadly battle between another clan – the Missos – which resulted in the known deaths of 20 people.

Panzuto, then 32, was arrested on suspicion of four killings by officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency at his £200,000 rented semi-detached house in Cock Robin Lane, Catterall, near Garstang, in May 2007.

Panzuto was living in the village with his wife and young family. Telephone calls made by his family in phone boxes in Italy were traced to Catterall.

Persico’s arrest was as a result of a joint operation involving Lancashire Constabulary and Interpol.

A police spokesman said an investigation was continuing into other criminal activity of known associates of Persico.

Mafia man living in Chorley – Published Date: 10 November 2008 – Chorley Guardian – This story was found at: http://www.chorley-guardian.co.uk/chorley/Mafia-man-living-in-Chorley.4676888.jp

A member of an Italian Mafia clan, who lived a double life in Lancashire, has been convicted of drug trafficking after his arrest in Portugal, the Evening Post can reveal.

Giuseppe Persico, 34, who lived and worked in Chorley for more than two years, was arrested in a swoop by Portuguese police after landing at Faro Airport.

Persico, said by police to be a member of the fearsome Naples mafia known as Camorra, was wanted by the Italian authorities for drug trafficking in his home country.

Lancashire Police confirmed he was convicted of the offences after his arrest on October 17.

Officers also revealed Persico is a known associate of Gennaro Panzuto – the Mafia “godfather” who was arrested for four murders at his home in Catterall, Garstang in 2007.

A stunned friend of Persico’s, who did not wish to be named, said: “He lived and worked in Chorley for the last two years. He was mates with the man arrested in Catterall.”

Persico is believed to have come to this country to live with an English girlfriend. When the relationship broke down he found a job as a removal man, working for removals firm Andrew Porter Ltd, which has a base in Adlington. He lived in a rented house on Geoffrey Street, Chorley.

Unbeknown to his friends until his arrest, Persico was an associate of Gennaro Panzuto, who was convicted of four murders connected to a mob war after extradition to Italy.

Panzuto was the head of the powerful Pincirillo clan, part of the Camorra Mafia – a criminal organisation, or secret society, originating in Naples, Italy.

It is said to finance itself through drug trafficking, extortion, protection and racketeering.

During Panzuto’s time as leader, his clan became embroiled in a battle with another clan – the Missos – which resulted in the deaths of 20 people.

Panzuto, then 32, was arrested on suspicion of four killings by Serious Organised Crime Agency officers at his £200,000 rented semi-detached house in Cock Robin Lane, Catterall, near Garstang in May 2007.

He also faced charges of possession of weapons in Italy.

A Lancashire Police spokesman said: “Persico’s arrest was as a
result of a joint operation involving Lancashire Constabulary and Interpol.

“An investigation is continuing into other criminal activity of known associates of Persico.”

Mafia drug trafficker’s Lancashire link – 07 November 2008 – By Stef Hall – Johnston Press Digital Publishing – This story was found at: http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Mafia-drug-trafficker39s-Lancashire-link.4673712.jp

Best Western has confirmed an investigation is underway into how the chain’s computer defences were breached on Thursday night.

Details of how to access the information – which included home addresses, place of employment and credit card details – were sold through an underground network operated by the Russian mafia.

Tim Wade, head of marketing for Best Western GB, said it was “unlikely” that whoever was responsible got hold of the details of “every booking at every hotel” in Europe because of the way their system worked.

He added: “We are investigating further and that investigation is being led by our team in North America. They are in control of the systems.

“Best Western took immediate action to disable the compromised log-in account in question.

“We are currently in the process of working with our credit card partners to ensure that all relevant procedural standards are met, and that the interests of our guests are protected.”

He said the company is continuing to investigate the “root cause”, including a third-party website where the information was allegedly exchanged.

Guest with concerns should contact their local customer service team, he added.

Best Western International is the world’s largest hotel brand with more than 4,000 hotels in 80 countries.

It is believed an Indian hacker succeeded in bypassing the security software and placing a Trojan virus on one of the firm’s machines used for reservations.

The next time a staff member logged in, his or her username and password were collected, stored then put up for sale on a website operated by a branch of the Russian mafia.

The stolen data includes a range of private information such as home addresses, telephone numbers, credit card details and place of employment.

Best Western fixed the security breach on Friday after being alerted by a Sunday newspaper, which had discovered the crime.

Jacques Erasmus, an expert who works for the computer security firm Prevx, said: “Large corporate companies rely on anti-virus products to protect their infrastructure, but the problem with this approach is that these products only detect around 60 per cent of threats out there.

“In the right hands, viruses can easily bypass these programs, as was the case here.”

Best Western later stated that just one hotel in Germany was compromised by the virus. Only 10 customers were affected. They have already been contacted. None of these customers was resident in the UK. Best Western purges all reservations data within seven days of guest departure.

Hackers steal details of Best Western hotel guests – By Simon Johnson – Last Updated: 5:17PM BST 27 Aug 2008 – Telegraph.co.uk – This story was found at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2632899/Hackers-steal-details-of-Best-Western-hotel-guests.html

Crime bosses would get hold of a person’s unique fingerprint data and capture his or her identity forever, said Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University.

In evidence quoted by a new Commons report, he says: ‘There is a fundamental security engineering problem with biometrics as opposed to the cryptographic keys in your chip and pin card.

Biometric identity cards could be less secure as your details, such as fingerprints, cannot be changed if they are stolen.

‘Once your biometrics become compromised, you cannot revoke them. It is not practical to do eye or finger transplants.

‘Once you start using biometrics on a very wide scale, for all sorts of everyday transactions, the Mafia will also have your biometrics.

‘You do not know which shops are owned by the Mafia but if you end up having to put your fingerprint on the glass every time that you buy a can of Coke, sooner or later the Mafia will have the biometrics of millions of people.’

The powerful Commons’ Home Affairs Committee called on the Home Office to prepare ‘contingency plans to be implemented in the event of a loss or theft of biometric information from its databases’.

ID cards for British citizens will be introduced from next year.

They will be voluntary until the next Election, after which the Commons will vote on making them compulsory.

But David Cameron would scrap the project if he becomes Prime Minister.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: ‘Biometric information will be encrypted from the moment a person is enrolled right through to the National Identity Register.

‘Once on the register, they will be protected by the physical and technical controls that are in place.

‘The biometrics store will be held at a very high security level as we understand the importance and risks around unauthorised exposure of biometrics.’

Mafia will steal millions of biometric identities, MPs warned – By Mail On Sunday Reporter – 08 June 2008 – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1024946/Mafia-steal-millions-biometric-identities-MPs-warned.html

Britain is wide open to the threat of the Russian Mafia, a leading crime expert has warned.

Squabbles between the police and MI5, the removal of the one policeman with contacts with the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the fallout from the Alexander Litvinenko murder have combined to leave London vulnerable to the mafia gangs, author Andrei Soldatov claims.

Soldatov, one of Russia’s leading security experts, says Britain is ill-prepared for the threat of the Russian Mafia, who are currently said to be heavily involved in money laundering in the City of London.

Writing in Russian opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the security expert said while Vietnamese, Turkish, and Colombian mafia gangs visibly fought for control of casinos and clubs at street level in Britain, the Russian mafia kept a low profile and slipped beow the radar of law enforcement officials.

Citing an unnamed MI5 source, Soldatov said the secret intelligence service was no longer involved in fighting organised crime – despite a period in the mid 1990′s when it was tasked with breaking international gangs – and that the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) had taken over their work.

Soldatov said SOCA – which doesn’t have a Russian department – now prefers to collect information from agents, without passing the case on to the court, so as not to compromise it’s sources.

In addition, Soldatov said the one, unnamed, British policeman with good links with the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs was dismissed from his post.

The officer, now nearing retirement, helped with the 2004 arrest of three Russian hackers Ivan Maksakov, Alexander Patrov and Denis Stepanov, who were blackmailing nine British and Irish bookmakers and casinos.

Each received eight years in jail.

Since then problems caused by the Alexander Litvinenko murder case in Britain have soured relations between British police and the Ministry of Internal affairs.

“There is almost no co-operation at all now,” Soldatov said, adding: “It looks like there’s nothing to be afraid of for the Russian mafia in Great Britain.

Britain ‘wide open’ to Russian mafia because of fallout from Litvinenko poisoning case – By Will Stewart – Last updated at 3:51 PM on 03rd June 2008 – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1023934/Britain-wide-open-Russian-mafia-fallout-Litvinenko-poisoning-case.html

A HOLIDAY in the sun turned into a nightmare for the woman dubbed the `Mafia Godmother.’

Ann Hathaway, 45, from Middleton, near Rochdale, was arrested in a restaurant in Benidorm and led away in handcuffs.

She then spent 10 hours in a cell before police realised their mistake.

The mum of two hit the headlines last year when Italian police issued an international arrest warrant for her extradition to Sicily to face charges linking her to the Mafia.

They suspected her of running husband Antonio Rinzivillo’s crime empire while he served 30 years for drug trafficking and murder.

She spent four months behind bars before cutting a deal with prosecutors – admitting Mafia association in return for a two-year suspended sentence.

The arrest warrant should have been removed by Italian police following her conviction.

It apparently wasn’t, and when Spanish police made a routine check of her passport alarm bells sounded.

Ms Hathaway, of Green Street, Boarshaw, said police were aggressive towards her and one officer whistled the theme from the blockbuster film The Godfather while she was behind bars.

She said: “I can’t believe what happened, it really shook me up and upset me. I think it’s disgusting the way they treated me. I’ve still got marks on my arms from where they grabbed me and my nerves have gone.

“There are ways to go about things and you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty but they were horrible.

“The only thing I have done wrong is married someone who had problems.”

Ms Hathaway was on holiday with around 30 other women for a friend’s 40th birthday.

She left her passport with hotel staff when she arrived and was arrested the next morning.

She is seeking compensation.

Mafia wife in holiday ordeal – 1/ 5/2008 – http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1047802_mafia_wife_in_holiday_ordeal_

A 45 year old British woman, named with the initials A.H., has been arrested in Benidorm on an international arrest warrant.

The arrest was carried out at a hotel in the town on the request of the Italian authorities who want to talk to the woman about her alleged connections to the Sicilian Mafia.

She is alleged to have carried out extortion, drug trafficking and even a killing for which she faces 24 years in an Italian prison.

She will appear before Instruction Court 3 in the National Court in Madrid shortly according to National Police sources in Alicante.

British woman arrested in Benidorm for alleged links to the Italian mafia – By h.b. – Apr 21, 2008 – 8:17 PM – http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_16175.shtml

Graeme Pearson, who served his last day as director of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) yesterday, said current asset recovery legislation was “too restrictive” and insisted much tougher powers were needed to “isolate” organised crime and prevent it spreading further into legitimate businesses and spheres of public life.

And he warned that senior public figures in Scotland could become irreparably scarred by corruption unless more action is taken to deny the country’s “Mr Bigs” their power and wealth.

Some of the country’s most senior criminals are being allowed to keep millions of pounds in assets, despite being targeted by new legislation designed to strip them of their illicit wealth.

The scale of criminal wealth in Scotland is massive. It is understood that the country has at least 100 millionaire criminals.

Last month, Elish Angiolini, the Lord Advocate, announced more than £2 million was seized from criminals in the first half of 2007/08, taking the total amount of money and assets recovered to in excess of £17.5 million since the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) was introduced in 2002.

As The Scotsman revealed in August, a further £10 million of money and assets, such as luxury houses, cars and bank accounts, have been restrained by police.

Dozens of drug barons, gangsters and other leading crime figures have been targeted, including John “The Iceman” Stevenson, who, earlier in the year, was jailed for more than 12 years for his part in a massive money laundering operation.

The Crown Office has been in negotiations with his lawyers over how much can be seized under POCA, with more than £1 million set to be taken.

But it is understood that Scotland’s biggest gangland figure will still be a millionaire, having had around £2.3 million worth of assets identified by police.

Mr Pearson, who has stepped down after four years in charge of the agency, said police were hamstrung by the fact that the legislation only allows assets to be taken if the court can prove they were the product of crime.

“This might sound Draconian, but if you as a businessman with legitimate assets become involved in organised crime, then I think when you mix dirty money with clean money, we should be able to take the lot.

“People cannot understand why we leave criminals still living in comfortable circumstances because we have to separate clean money from dirty money.”

While welcoming the POCA legislation, Mr Pearson said its restrictive nature meant the assets police were able to seize from criminals were only “the tip of the iceberg”.

He said the security industry, taxi trade and other ventures had become “corrupted” by organised crimes and said there was a danger that public figures, including politicians and judges, could similarly be tarnished.

He added: “It is important for the future that we do more work to remove the role models from organised crime – in doing that we need to strip them of their assets. Organised crime is not motivated by wealth, they only seek wealth to have power, influence and control.

“If we remove the role models and their assets, they don’t have power, influence and control. The danger for civilised society, as we’ve seen elsewhere, is they corrupt anything they come into contact with. The security industry has been corrupted, saunas, nail boutiques, taxis – all lose the notion of legitimacy.

“They lose any notion of integrity because organised crime becomes involved in it.

“If you look in places like Italy, where regularly police officers, politicians and judges are arrested because of their alleged involvement in criminality, it would be naive to think that public life in Scotland couldn’t be corrupted by these people.”

Mr Pearson said the threat of having a business taken away would prove a powerful deterrent to “legitimate” individuals getting involved with money-laundering and other forms of organised crime.

“The pressure I see coming from such a change [in the law] would be that, if you’re a legitimate businessman and I, as a criminal, come to involve you in my business, you would say, ‘I’ve got a legitimate business – if I mix with you I lose my business’. You create a gap between criminality and legitimate business.”
CRIME BOSSES’ HIDDEN MILLIONS

WHILE police and prosecutors have managed to net nearly £18 million in assets funded by drugs and other organised crime, many of those targeted have managed to preserve a far greater slice of their wealth.

Hundreds of millions of pounds of illegally earned money have been laundered, and hidden, through private taxi firms in particular.

Jamie “The Iceman” Stevenson is understood to be worth more than £8 million, his wealth including properties overseas and bank accounts in other people’s names. He was jailed for almost 13 years in April over a £1 million money-laundering scheme. He is set to relinquish around £1.5 million through the proceeds of crime legislation.

Alexander Donnelly, who headed a major cocaine-trafficking ring, last year struck a deal with the Crown that saw him give up £177,000. But his drug-importing scheme is thought to have earned him a seven-figure sum.

Others who were able to make, and keep, millions of pounds from organised crime include Tam “The Licensee” McGraw, who built a multi-million-pound fortune from drug-dealing and extortion. He was one of the first major crime figures to realise the need to hide his wealth. Everything he owned was in wife Margaret’s name. He died in July after amassing £14 million, laundered largely through private taxi firms.

Tony McGovern and his crime family gathered more than £14 million through Network Private Hire. McGovern was gunned down after leaving his local Glasgow pub in September 2000.

Strip Mr Bigs of cash or their ‘Mafia’ will soon corrupt Scots police, judges, MSPs – MICHAEL HOWIE – HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT – Mon 12 Nov 2007 – http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1790132007