(HMRC) Former England cricketer jailed for drug smuggling

Former England Test cricketer Christopher Lewis was jailed today for 13 years after being convicted of smuggling cocaine into the UK. Accomplice Chad Kirnon, a London basketball player, was jailed for 13 years. Between them, the two men hid over three kilos of cocaine in tins of fruit juice carried in their baggage. The drugs had an estimated street value of £140,000.

Investigators from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) interviewed Lewis (41) and Kirnon (27) after UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers detected the drugs on 8 December 2008. The two men had arrived at Gatwick Airport on a flight from St Lucia and following the discovery they were arrested and subsequently charged.

The trial, which was prosecuted by the Revenue & Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO), commenced at Croydon Crown Court on 11 May 2009.

Peter Avery, Assistant Director, HMRC Criminal Investigations said:
"Sportsmen and women who are regularly in the public eye have a responsibility to act as role models and ambassadors for their respective sports. It is therefore even more disappointing when such role models get involved in the criminality of attempting to smuggle Class A drugs into the UK. HMRC investigators do not differentiate in their determination to bring anyone involved in such activity to justice, whether they are famous or not.

Drugs devastate lives and communities and we are determined to prevent them reaching UK streets.

Anyone with information relating to smuggled goods or other illegal activities should contact HMRC's 24 hour hotline on 080...."

In passing sentence, His Honour Judge Nicholas Ainley said:
"The majority of smugglers usually have the courage or dignity to plead guilty and get credit for that. You have forfeited the right to do that. Kirnon you made it as a basketball player and Lewis you have been at the top of your profession. Your motivation was greed, you decided the risks were worth it and the rewards substantial. This was major organised crime."

(Home Office) Contracts bring ID cards and more secure passports closer

ID cards and enhanced passports will be introduced under new contracts announced today. The award of contracts for core elements of the National Identity Service and the modernisation of the passport application process brings large scale deployment of ID cards a step closer.

The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) is replacing and upgrading its contracts for processing passport applications, which are due to expire in 2009 and 2010, and creating a new secure database for storing the facial and fingerprint images.

Together they will support the introduction of ID cards and allow for vital improvements to the next generation of biometric passports.

Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, said:

"These contracts bring ID cards and more secure British passports a step closer, taking advantage of the best technology available to bring real benefits.

"ID cards and passports with fingerprint and facial biometrics will provide a safe and secure way of protecting personal details and proving identity.

"Our passport is already respected across the world as a Gold Standard for travel documents - these improvements will further help protect our borders."

After a lengthy procurement process, which started with 50 prospective bidders companies in September 2007, CSC has been awarded the £385 million contract to upgrade IPS' application and enrolment system which will provide:

* a new system for processing applications for both passports and ID cards;
* the ability for customers to apply online;
* improved background checking for applications;
* new systems to report lost and stolen passports and ID cards;
* support for customers updating their personal data; and
* new IT and telephony systems for IPS.

IBM was awarded a £265 million contract to continue existing UKBA fingerprinting capabilities and to build and run the database that will store the facial images and fingerprints that are needed to keep the passport in line with international standard, as well as to support the delivery of the ID card. It will provide:

* a database to store the fingerprint and facial biometrics of applicants for passports and ID cards; and

* a replacement for the UK Border Agency's (UKBA) Immigration and Asylum Fingerprint System (IAFS) which holds biometrics collected from visa applicants.

IPS has used best practice from across the public and private sector to ensure these contracts successfully deliver on time and on budget. It has worked to build strong relationships with all the suppliers incorporating rewards for success and disincentives for failure to help deliver the behaviours which will result in the contracts being delivered effectively.

After an initial selection process in May 2008 five potential suppliers were selected to join the IPS framework agreement and bid for contracts. Over the last nine months more than 250 face-to-face meetings with the suppliers allowed IPS to assess each supplier before awarding the contracts.

James Hall, chief executive of the Identity and Passport Service, said:

"The British passport is already one of the most secure in the world and it is vital we maintain that strength by moving with the rest of the international community.

"That is why as we replace expiring contracts we are introducing fingerprint and facial biometric technology to the passport. At the same time we are upgrading our application process to improve the service our customers receive. Both contracts will also help deliver the ID cards programme.

"IBM and CSC have shown they are superbly placed to deliver these large projects and we are delighted they are working with us."

The next generation of passport containing chips with facial images and fingerprints will start to be issued from 2011, at which point customers will get the choice of applying for an ID card as well.

During the next ten years the cost of running IPS and upgrading the British passport is £3.595bn, with an expected spend of £1.190bn for delivering ID cards.

Nick Wilson, President and CEO for CSC's UK operations, said:

"CSC is pleased to be appointed by the UK government to provide services and expertise for this major programme. We look forward to applying our extensive global experience in identity management and critical programmes of this nature, and building on our track record of success in supporting citizen-centric services for governments worldwide."

John Granger, General Manager, IBM Global Business Services, said:

"IBM is pleased to have been selected as the preferred bidder for the National Biometric Identity Service (NBIS) and is working with the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) to finalise the contract to signature.

"NBIS is a substantial and sophisticated system and we are pleased that our designs and plans for its implementation have been recognised by this decision.

"We look forward to supporting the IPS to deliver this significant programme and expect it to extend and enhance our existing relationship both with the IPS and the UK Border Agency."

Foreign nationals are already being issued with ID cards and from the autumn staff working airside at Manchester and London City airports will be issued with cards as part of an 18 month evaluation period.

A limited number of British citizens who want to volunteer for an ID card can do so in the autumn, ahead of wider roll-out to young people in 2010.

(HMRC) Tobacco, Alcohol and Oils teams to target smuggling across UK

A new national network to target tobacco and alcohol smuggling was launched today.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has set up seven teams of officers around the country, with five more to be set up over the next three months. They will target smugglers and disrupt and dismantle the supply and distribution chains for illicit tobacco and alcohol within the UK.

They will also target the market in illicit fuel, including closing down fuel laundering plants where acids and chemicals strip the Government marker from red diesel.

The teams will complement the work of the UK Border Agency (UKBA), which focuses on preventing illicit tobacco and alcohol entering the country.

Illicit tobacco smuggling means that up to £3bn in tax is lost every year that would otherwise be spent on essential public services such as hospitals and nurses, the police, or schools and teachers, while spirits fraud alone costs the Exchequer around £250m annually.

John McManus, HMRC Specialist Investigations Operational Director for Structured Fiscal Attacks, responsible for Inland Detection, said:

"The new teams will pursue businesses or people involved in selling illicit tobacco, alcohol and fuel. Since 2000 HMRC has broken up more than 370 criminal gangs and prosecuted more than 2,000 people.

"Tobacco, alcohol and fuel smuggling creates a cheap and unregulated supply operated by and for criminals. Organised crime undermines honest businesses whose trade is damaged when smugglers undercut them by evading tax."

A large proportion of illicit cigarettes are made in backstreet factories with little or no quality control and have been known to contain things such as sawdust, tobacco beetles and even rat droppings. Illicit alcohol containing poisonous methanol can be harmful and even lethal. Adulterated fuel can seriously damage engines and the waste products of illegal fuel laundering, often found dumped by roadsides or in fields, are toxic and a fire hazard.

The Government's strategy of pursuing those involved in illicit tobacco products has slashed the criminal market since 2001/02 from 21 per cent to 13 per cent.

The new nationwide network will fight the supply of illicit tobacco and alcohol both in the formal retail sector and by wholly unlawful channels.

Those who are caught trading in illicit products will face a wider range of penalties and sanctions and a maximum seven years in prison, as well as confiscation of their stock.

Anyone with information about smuggled tobacco, alcohol or fuel should contact the secure hotline webpage at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs-hotline, call 0800 595000 or email customs.hotline@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.

(Ministry of Justice) £3.7m for victims of human trafficking

Victims of human trafficking will be helped to escape prostitution and domestic servitude following the award of a new £3.7 million Government grant to the POPPY Project, Justice Minister Maria Eagle announced today.

The POPPY Project has been providing places of refuge and vital support to hundreds of victims of human trafficking since 2003, backed by £5.8m Government support. This new investment will allow them to build on this work by:

* providing more victims across the UK with a safe haven;

* expanding the number of support workers available to assess the needs of individual victims and offer them specialised packages of support;

* ensuring increased access to counselling, health and psychological assistance for victims;

* expanding the community outreach team and locating workers within the UK Human Trafficking Centre to work in partnership with the police, UK Border agency and other partners to help identify victims in the community early and refer them into the appropriate support services;

* enabling more victims to access independent legal advice;

* creating a new national co-ordinator who will set minimum standards of support and help local areas deliver targeted support for victims.

Justice Minister Maria Eagle said:

"Human Trafficking thrives on the vulnerability of women. They are often subjected to multiple crimes including rape, physical violence, kidnapping and threats. This has no place in today's society.

"Very often the victims of these crimes are hidden from view and have no idea how to escape. Charities like the POPPY Project offer them the vital and specialist help they need.

"The funding we have announced today will offer victims of Human Trafficking across the UK much needed support."

Denise Marshall, Chief Executive of the POPPY Project, added:

"We are happy to be able to announce that the POPPY Project has been awarded the Government tender for work supporting trafficked women. As an agency long committed to providing high quality support services and promoting best practice nationally and internationally, we are gratified by this recognition of the work that we do.

"The funding will enable us to expand our services to include support for women trafficked into domestic servitude, and we are pleased that this form of exploitation has now been recognised as a gendered form of violence. We will also be working with new partners to expand our services on a national level.

"We look forward to working with the Home Office and UKBA regarding implementation of the European Convention and we will ensure that victims of trafficking are identified as such and receive the support they need and deserve."

This work is just one part of a wider strategy to make the UK a hostile environment for traffickers and identify and protect victims. The Government has published a comprehensive UK Action Plan to tackle trafficking head on, and last year the UK ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Trafficking in Human Beings.

The Government, Police, Serious Organised Crimes Agency and specialist organisations, like the POPPY Project, continue to work together to rescue and protect victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation as well as identify, disrupt, arrest and bring to justice those involved in criminal activity.