Two people have been arrested after thousands of litres of dangerous illegal fuel were seized today in west Belfast.

A new specialist cross-border group is being established in a fresh bid to combat the multi-million pound fuel fraud business, it was revealed today.

Record amounts of criminal assets have been seized during the first six months of this year, the Northern Ireland Office said tonight.

An alleged drug trafficker’s property empire and luxury cars worth nearly £3m (€4.3m) have been frozen by crimefighters in Belfast, it was revealed tonight.

Cocaine with a street value of more than £100,000 (€147,500) has been found stuffed into a hedge in Co Derry, police revealed today.

Alan McQuillan was appointed as boss of the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) today in succession to current director Jane Earl.

Cannabis with a street value of worth more than £10m (€14.8m) was seized from a warehouse in the North today.

Organised crime gangs are increasingly targeting Northern Ireland’s small businesses for extortion, MPs were told today.

Northern Ireland Security Minister Shaun Woodward tonight stood by his controversial assessment that the IRA was distancing itself from organised crime.

An overwhelming majority of people in Northern Ireland believe the province has an organised crime problem, a public attitudes survey revealed today.

Detectives investigating loyalist criminality today arrested 13 people during a series of searches across Northern Ireland.

More than 30 properties were being searched today in a major operation by police in the North investigating a loyalist paramilitary murder eight years ago.

The British Assets Recovery Agency has doubled its investigative staff as part of a developing offensive against crime bosses in Northern Ireland, it was revealed tonight.

POLICE chiefs have not ruled out the possibility that those behind one of the biggest bank raids in European history had someone working on the inside.

Police chiefs have not ruled out the possibility that paramilitaries were behind one of the biggest bank raids in British history.

Three quarters of the public in Northern Ireland believe paramilitaries are running organised crime rackets, a new report revealed today.

MORE than 230 gangs are now running Northern Ireland’s billion euro organised crime industry, according to a report.

More than 230 gangs are now running Northern Ireland’s billion pound organised crime industry, a new report revealed today.

A NEW government unit has been set up in the North up to crack a multi-million pound illegal dumping racket by criminal gangs from the Republic.

Organised crime gangs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and running rings around local gardaí and law enforcement agencies, the Justice Minister claimed today.

Northern Ireland haulage companies are facing fines of hundreds of thousands of pounds for using illegal diesel, it was revealed today.

Thousands of cars stolen in Northern Ireland are being shipped overseas as part of a multi-million pound crime operation, it was claimed today.

Less than a quarter of crimes in Northern Ireland last year were detected by police, it was revealed today.

A new website, aimed at fighting organised crime in Northern Ireland, has been launched by the North's security minister, Jane Kennedy.

More than 40 organised crime gangs in Northern Ireland have been infiltrated during the last year, it emerged today.

Northern Secretary John Reid has announced plans to establish an "assets recovery agency" in the North to give police the power to confiscate the proceeds of crime.

A leading American expert on organised crime has been recruited to help tackle the problem in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland’s Organised Crime Task Force today seized a major illegal fuel laundering plant.

Northern Ireland risks sliding into a society marked by ‘‘gangsterism’’ unless the control that paramilitaries exert over neighbourhoods is tackled, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble claimed today.