A major new British government report on organised crime in Northern Ireland will conclude that many members of loyalist and republican paramilitary organisations, including the IRA, are still involved in serious organised crime such as armed robbery, hijackings, extortion, fuel laundering, smuggling and piracy, The Irish Times has learned.
The House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee report will be published at the Navan Centre on the outskirts of Armagh city today. It is also likely to conclude that continuing organised crime is having a detrimental effect on attracting foreign direct investment to the North.
"It states that these organisations, including the IRA, could and should do more to stamp down on such crime," said one source close to the committee. "It does point the finger at the IRA for their failure to face up to the criminal activities of some of their members and former members."
The report, the sources added, is also critical of Sinn Féin for failing to endorse the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Policing Board. "The committee agreed that Sinn Féin's refusal to support the police is creating the space for organised crime to flourish," one said. The report will place emphasis on the need for cross-Border policing co-operation if organised crime is to be tackled effectively.
The report is based in large part on evidence given at oral hearings and in closed sessions at the House of Commons in recent months involving witnesses from the Northern Irish security services and business groups.
Witnesses included PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde, Assets Recovery Agency director Alan McQuillan and representatives from HM Revenue and Customs.
Val Smith, past national chair of the Road Haulage Association and manager of Bondelivery Northern Ireland, said the risk of being hijacked when carrying high-value goods, such as cigarettes and alcohol, was higher now than ever in the North.
The situation had deteriorated to such an extent that when her company was transporting goods from North to South, it sent them on board car ferries via Britain rather than cross the Border.
Her company had been robbed more times "in the last three years than in the 30 years previously". Other firms, such as Securicor, "are a hundred times worse" and at one point were being robbed at a rate of once a week.
Wilfred Mitchell OBE, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, in his evidence said: "We are on the verge of having two mini mafias in Northern Ireland."
Mr Orde did not believe two mafias were emerging, but conceded some crime types were widespread in the North.
The PSNI was seizing more counterfeit goods in Northern Ireland than the other 43 police forces in Britain combined. "It is a huge amount," Mr Orde said.
Mr McQuillan said of the 95 cases referred to the Assets Recovery Agency to June of this year, 29 involved loyalist criminals and 14 republican criminals. Peter Sheridan, PSNI assistant chief constable, said since its formation two years ago across the UK, the PSNI had referred more cases to it "than all of the other police forces in the United Kingdom put together".
In a written submission, the Confederation of British Industry said it believed up to 70 per cent of all fuel on sale in the North had been "adulterated to a greater or lesser extent".
Paul Gerrard, the deputy head of enforcement and compliance operations at HM Revenue and Customs, said the exchequer in the North was losing £245 million (€353 million) each year on taxes lost due to Northern Irish hauliers fuelling up in the Republic and because of the illegal laundered fuel industry.