NCJ Number
247464
Date Published
July 2014
Length
93 pages
Annotation
This Annual Report (April 1, 2013, to October 6, 2013) of the United Kingdom's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) focuses on its organizational evolution and ultimate absorption under the newly created National Crime Agency (NCA) as well as its work and expenditures for its last year of operation.
Abstract
SOCA assumed its statutory functions on April 1, 2006, bringing together staff from the National Crime Squad (NCS), the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), and staff and resources from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). SOCA focused on drug trafficking and associated criminal finance and on organized immigration crime. The NCS and NCIS ceased to exist on March 31, 2006. On April 1, 2008, the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) merged with SOCA; this merger resulted in new civil recovery arrangements within SOCA. ARA ceased to exist on March 31, 2008. In April 2010, the UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC) became part of SOCA. The UKHTC continued to have its own management Board and retained its previous identity and functions. On April 1, 2012, five functions from the former National Policing Improvement Agency merged with SOCA. SOCA was essentially an intelligence-led agency with law enforcement powers. It had the primary functions of preventing and detecting serious organized crime and the reduction and mitigation of the harms of such crime. SOCA also gathered, stored, analyzed, and disseminated information relevant to the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of offenses. During the period of this report, SOCA activity led to the seizure of 1.2 tons of heroin in the UK and overseas, as well as 34.7 tons of cocaine. SOCA also used its criminal and civil powers to deny criminals access to 41 million pounds. SOCA was absorbed into the National Crime Agency on October 7, 2013. Extensive tables