The SDLP today tried to head off a legal challenge being mounted by a former assistant chief constable in the North.

The SDLP is coming under intense criticism over its claim that it influenced the appointment of the PSNI chief constable.

Crimefighters in the North have seized control of a jailed thief's house, car and luxury watches, they revealed today.

The assets of a Belfast publican, his partner and her daughter have been seized by the North's Assets Recovery Agency.

A convicted armed robber today had over £100,000 (€144,100) assets seized by the UK's Assets Recovery Agency after the first court case of its kind in Northern Ireland.

The authorities in the North have seized around £750,000 (€1m) worth of assets from a second-hand car dealer suspected of fraud and tax evasion.

The ex-wife of a murdered loyalist paramilitary leader has sold her home in the North in order to pay £35,000 (€51,000) to the Assets Recovery Agency, it announced today.

ASSETS including a helicopter and Jaguar worth about £3.6 million (€5.3m) were frozen by the High Court in Belfast during an investigation into drug, fuel and cigarette smuggling.

ASSETS worth £700,000 (€1.02 million) belonging to two alleged fuel smugglers in south Armagh have been frozen by the Northern High Court.

THE NORTH'S top detective has told the Policing Board the IRA is still involved in organised crime, it was revealed last night.

Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy has launched an attack on the PSNI's Assets Recovery Agency (ARA), accusing it of unfairly implicating one of his constituents in criminal activity.

A man accused of being involved in organised crime has had assets worth £200,000 (€292,600) seized by the North's Assets Recovery Agency (ARA), it emerged today.

Flashy loyalist paramilitaries' cash is easier to seize than top major republicans' illegal wealth, a crimefighter has claimed.

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.

Assets which include nearly 50 properties have been frozen as part of a major investigation into the affairs of an alleged Northern Ireland-based drugs dealer, it was revealed today.

AN ALLEGED Northern Ireland-based drugs dealer, who owns an apartment in Dublin and companies here, has had assets and 50 properties worth over €7 million frozen as part of a major investigation.

A luxury bungalow and motor home have been seized in a £300,000 (€430,000) offensive against an alleged loyalist paramilitary booze and counterfeiting racket, it emerged today.

Four houses belonging to a murdered loyalist terror boss were auctioned off for more than £250,000 (€360,300) tonight.

A family suspected of smuggling millions of pounds worth of alcohol into Northern Ireland from Europe has had its assets frozen, it was revealed today.

A police chief has been ordered to make a £1,500 (€2,143) payout to a top loyalist paramilitary in Northern Ireland, it emerged tonight.

Luxury homes and cars have been seized in an offensive against a family running an alleged international smuggling operation, it emerged today.

BRITAIN’S anti-racketeering agency said yesterday it had successfully seized assets valued at €1.9 million from the estate of a Northern paramilitary godfather killed in an underworld feud.

More than £1m (€1.5m) profit from drug dealing and terrorism seized from a murdered loyalist paramilitary godfather is to be used to tackle crime following a landmark ruling in Belfast High Court today.

More than £3m (€4.5m) has been seized in the first year of a new offensive against Northern Ireland’s crime and terror bosses.

The global sharing of intelligence on terrorism was being discussed in Belfast today among police chiefs from across the world who have gathered for one of the most prestigious international policing conferences.

A COLLECTION of art and a €180,000 luxury yacht have been examined as part of a new crackdown on multi-million euro racketeering in the North.

A collection of art and a luxury yacht have been examined as part of a developing offensive against multi-million pound racketeering in Northern Ireland, it emerged today.

Crimefighters in Northern Ireland have frozen more than £1.5m (€2.1m) worth of cash and property belonging to a murdered loyalist paramilitary boss, it emerged today

The North's version of the Criminal Assets Bureau should be given similar powers to the Republic's, according to the SDLP.

Loyalist paramilitaries who fled Northern Ireland will not escape a major new crackdown on illegal wealth, a top crimefighter pledged today.

SECRET bank accounts of loyalists, who pay their men in drugs and prostitutes, are to be probed in a major British government offensive against paramilitaries, it was revealed last night.

Police in Northern Ireland go to court today in a bid to overturn the damning report into their handling of the Omagh bomb investigation by Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan.

The police commander heading a new offensive against organised crime in Northern Ireland tonight warned paramilitary gangsters: "The easy life is over."

Northern Ireland Chief Constable Hugh Orde’s acting deputy is to head up a new agency to deal with organised crime in Northern Ireland, it emerged today.

The Northern Ireland Policing Board was meeting today to shortlist candidates for the North's second most senior post in law enforcement.

Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness has accused the North's acting deputy chief constable for Belfast of conducting a blatant witch-hunt against Catholics working in the civil service.

The SDLP has said it remains concerned about the continuing police investigation into alleged IRA spying in Stormont.

IRA intelligence-gathering in Belfast has been smashed open by one of the biggest police investigations in Northern Ireland in the last decade, it was claimed last night.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland say they have broken a major IRA intelligence operation.

Belfast's top police commander Alan McQuillan has been appointed as acting deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI.

The PSNI has revealed that three arrests made in Belfast yesterday were the result of a "sting" operation.

Police in the North have revealed that a former messenger who once worked at the British Government’s main office in Belfast was arrested during a series of raids in republican areas this morning.

FEARS heightened last night of a gun war between rival loyalist paramilitaries in the North.

The shooting of a top loyalist paramilitary in Belfast is linked to a fall-out over drugs, police claimed today.