Irish criminals head Britain’s underworld rich list

AN INVESTIGATION into Britain’s richest underworld figures has found that the richest drug dealer and smuggler are Irish.

The list, compiled by a BBC team from information gleaned from police and criminal sources, names the fugitive Irishman Brian Brendan Wright as the most prolific and richest drug smuggler with an estimated fortune of over €100m.

And, according to a BBC Underworld Rich List programme to be broadcast next week, the IRA’s south Armagh commander is the most successful smuggler on the islands, with an estimated fortune of some €50m. The IRA man has amassed a fortune from the trade in oil, cigarettes and livestock but he has not yet been targeted by either the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) or its British equivalent, the Assets Recovery Agency.