28 crime gangs disrupted by North’s assets body in 2005

The Assets Recovery Agency has disrupted the work of almost 30 criminal gangs in the North over the last year, according to British minister Shaun Woodward.

Speaking at a business conference in Belfast today, Mr Woodward said the agency had either broken up or disrupted 28 gangs during 2005.

He said it had frozen or confiscated £12m (€17.6m) worth of assets during the year.

Elsewhere, Mr Woodward said £7m (€10.2m) worth of counterfeit goods had also been seized by the PSNI during the past 12 months, while almost 40% of the North's leading organisations had been victims of economic crime in 2005, with the vast majority of offences committed by management or employees.