Armoured & Luxury
Chauffeur Driven Cars

Nearly 600 suspected members of county lines drugs gangs have been arrested across the UK in the past week, the National Crime Agency has said.

Police forces led by the National County Lines Coordination Centre also seized cocaine worth £176,780, £312,649 in cash and 46 weapons.

The NCA estimates there are about 2,000 city-based gangs exploiting young people to sell drugs in smaller towns. It says tackling the gangs is a “national law enforcement priority”.

In the operation between 13 and 20 May:

500 men and 86 women were arrested in raids in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cheshire, Bedfordshire and other areas,519 vulnerable adults and 364 children in need of support were helped, 30 people were identified as potential victims of slavery or human trafficking.

Four guns were seized, as well as swords, machetes, an axe, knives, samurai swords, and a crossbow. Drugs including cocaine with a street value of £176,780, crack worth £36,550 and £17,950 of heroin were recovered.

Read More

Thousands of teenagers in care are being “dumped” in unregulated homes and “abandoned to organised crime gangs”.

The number of looked-after children aged 16 and over living in unregistered accommodation in England has increased 70% in a decade, Newsnight has found.

Police forces have raised concerns, saying criminals see the premises as an easy target for recruitment. The government said children in care “deserve good quality accommodation”.

The Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) said local authorities do “many things” – including unannounced checks and DBS checks – to monitor provision.

As part of a special series of reports, Britain’s Hidden Children’s Homes, Newsnight has learned that – according to figures from the Department for Education – around 5,000 looked after children in England are living in so-called 16+ supported or semi-supported accommodation – up from 2,900 10 years ago.

Read More

A neo-Nazi who planned to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper in a terrorist attack has been jailed for life.

Jack Renshaw, 23, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, must serve at least 20 years in prison.

A judge at the Old Bailey said Renshaw, who earlier admitted preparing an act of terror, wanted to “replicate” the murder of Jo Cox.

Renshaw made a Nazi salute towards supporters as he was led to the cells from the dock. He pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial to buying a machete to kill the West Lancashire MP and making threats to kill police officer Det Con Victoria Henderson.

A jury twice failed to reach a verdict on charges relating to his membership of banned neo-Nazi group National Action.

Sentencing him for the terror plot, Judge Justice McGowan said Renshaw’s “perverted view of history and current politics” led him to “an attempt to damage our entire system of democracy”. She said: “You praised the murder of Jo Cox in tweets and posts in June 2017. In some bizarre way you saw this as a commendable act and set out to replicate that behaviour.”

Read More

The political leader of the Basque separatist group Eta has been arrested in the French Alps after 17 years on the run, officials say.

In a joint French-Spanish police operation, Josu Ternera – whose real name is José Antonio Urrutikoetxea – was arrested in Sallanches. He is accused over several Eta killings.

Eta, which waged a violent campaign for Basque independence for more than 40 years, said in 2018 it was disbanding. The group killed more than 800 people during its campaign of violence before declaring a ceasefire in 2011.

Reports say Ternera is seriously ill and Spanish police tipped off their French colleagues that he was on his way to hospital, triggering his arrest.

Spanish prosecutors allege that Josu Ternera was involved in a car bomb attack outside a Civil Guard barracks in the northern city of Zaragoza in December 1987, which killed 11 people, including five children.

Read More

Giving the Chinese telecoms firm Huawei a role in building the UK’s 5G network poses an unnecessary risk to national security, a former MI6 chief has said.

Sir Richard Dearlove said such a move could give the Chinese government a “potentially advantageous exploitative position” in the UK’s telecoms network. It follows reports last month that the PM is ready to let the firm supply some parts of the UK’s 5G infrastructure.

A Huawei spokesman said Sir Richard’s warnings were “short on fact”.

Sir Richard’s intervention comes as US President Donald Trump signed an executive order effectively banning American firms from using foreign telecoms deemed to pose a threat to national security.

Although it does not name Huawei, it is widely considered to be aimed at the firm following repeated warnings by US officials that it could be used by the Chinese state to spy on or sabotage foreign networks. The company has vehemently denied the allegations and insists it is independent from state control.

Read More