WE'LL MAKE CRIME PAY (But not for the crooks)

How police target Designer a luxury lifestyles of criminal gangs

- NEAL KEELING

CRIMINAL gangs have a taste for the finer things in life and, even after they've been locked up in prison, police I have a job on their hands retrieving millions of pounds worth of ill-gotten gains.

Take The Company' for example.

Last month the final seven of the 15-strong gang were jailed for their part in an international car theft ring. It came four years after police had first carried out raids.

The Oldham-based crooks had hit on a way of making millions from stealing high-end cars to order and sending then abroad. Others were stripped in one of seven chop shops across Greater Manchester and the parts sold.

From February 2019 to January 2021 the gang stole 90 vehicles, amounting to an overall loss of £3m. Land Rovers and Range Rovers were shipped to Dubai and Turkey.

But after the seven were sentenced DCI Roger Smethurst indicated the police still had work to do.

Jail sentences were not the only punishment. A sting in the tail of the judicial system awaits some of the gang.

That's where Operation Falcon comes in a GMP taskforce dedicated to clawing back millions of pounds from criminals.

Det Chf Insp Smethurst told the M.E.N: "When we start to look at Proceeds of Crime hearings they will become a big issue in this case.

"We are looking at hundreds of thousands of pounds that we are seeking to recover. Various members (of the OCG) have looked to invest in property and family members who have no other source of income. The only way it would appear this money has been generated is through this gang" The gang can expect to be in the sights of GMP's Operation Falcon.

Launched in May 2022, the force's Economic Crime Unit, Serious and Organised Crime Group, Specialist Operations and intelligence officers work towards one aim removing funds from criminal networks.