Three NI properties seized and sold following £17m ‘dirty money’ investigation

Detectives carried out four linked civil recovery investigations, mainly centred on a group of heroin dealers operating out of east Birmingham, in an operation lasting more than eight years,

Two of the Bangor properties have been identified by the NCA as being in Victoria Road and Albert Street.

In all, the NCA uncovered a spider’s web of 59 properties, including industrial premises, terraced houses and even one commercial unit which had been turned into a gym, mainly in the West Midlands.

The vast majority of the remaining properties were lets, with another 34 separate addresses in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham – popular with students studying at the nearby University of Birmingham.

The inquiry, which initially began in 2011, ran alongside a separate criminal investigation which led to three of the gang’s ringleaders and five associates being jailed for a total of 139 years at Birmingham Crown Court in 2017.

None of the addresses were purchased in the names of the criminals.

However, they were each proven beyond reasonable doubt before a High Court judge to be purchases linked to the proceeds of drug importation and supply, fraud and money laundering.

There is no evidence any of the owners of the seized properties themselves were involved in any criminal activity, the NCA said.

Andy Lewis, the NCA’s head of asset denial, said: “What they don’t want to do is have a property portfolio in their own names so if they do get caught they stand to lose that immediately.

“We started looking at what assets the wider family members had, and we found more and more assets.”

Mr Lewis added: “Then we looked at whether what they had was commensurate with their actual income. So if they had income of £20,000 per year, but owned five properties worth more than £1 million in total, it starts the hares running.

“We didn’t need to prove they (the property owners) knew there was a criminal conspiracy – we were taking action against the property, not the people.”

Mr Lewis said the inquiry highlighted the importance of both criminal and civil investigations working in tandem to not only jail crimnals, but remove their long-term assets which might otherwise prove a nest egg.

PSNI referral sparked probe

The NCA started looking into the gang’s dealings after a referral from the Police Service of Northern Ireland in December 2011, with the final recovery order on the last two properties, both in Birmingham, being made last year.

The agency’s criminal investigation began in July 2014 after Border Force intercepted a shipping container with 165kg of 58% pure heroin hidden inside industrial equipment, with an estimated street value of up to £19 million.

Eight men, including the ringleaders, were jailed in July 2017 following a court case.

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