the uk's national crime agency has been carrying out a major investigation into two groups it's identifieded £20 million in cash and cryptocurrency, digital currencies like bitcoin. our home and legal correspondent dominic casciani explains the significance of these revelations. this is quite an extraordinary revelation from the national crime agency, based on a three—year investigation. now, back in the pandemic, drugs gangs in the uk were really struggling to move their cash from their street sales of drugs quite simply because of the lockdown. they didn't know where to move it to. and what appears to have happened is two large russian cryptocurrency networks operating out of moscow stepped in to help them, and they have set up basically a nationwide courier scheme. so a drugs gang could basically hand over its cash to the russian—controlled couriers. and at the same time, the russian couriers would basically authorise the delivery of cryptocurrency to the drugs gangs. now, why does that matter? quite simply, it meant the drugs gangs could get the dirty money off their hands. they could

let's bring you some breaking news from the uk's national crime agency. using britain as a key hub to provide services to organised criminals around the world. the nca has been carrying out a major investigation into two groups it's identified, smart and tgr, and says today it's arrested 84 people and seized 20 million pounds in cash and cryptocurrency digital currencies like bitcoin. the agency says these russian—speaking networks were supporting crime in the uk, middle east, russia and south america. they also helped russian clients to illegally bypass financial restrictions to invest money in the uk. we will talk to our correspondent about that in a little while. france's government is on the verge of collapse, with the country's parliament expected to remove prime minister michel barnier in a confidence vote, just three months after he took office. the political turmoil follows the decision by mr barnier, to force through an austerity budget without the approval of parliament. the no confidence motion is supported by the majority of mps from across th

police service of northern iretand _ scotland, police service of northern ireland and the national crime agencyuments. but they can't bring _ million documents. but they can't bring any— million documents. but they can't bring any decisions until sir williams _ bring any decisions until sir williams has published the final report— williams has published the final report from the inquiry. they say the police — report from the inquiry. they say the police are already in dialogue with the — the police are already in dialogue with the crown prosecution service, so they— with the crown prosecution service, so they should be able to move quite quickly once the report, but they have _ quickly once the report, but they have to — quickly once the report, but they have to wait for that and then there's— have to wait for that and then there's the usual delay before you get _ there's the usual delay before you get... that's put us in 2027. the first phase — get... that's put us in 2027. the first phase look at people who are close _ first phase look at people who are close to _ first phase look at people w

house prices even the uk and that is why i am announcing £6 million in new funding for the national crime agencyanti—corruption, and new anti—corruption, and new anti—corruption champion in margaret hodge, and sanctions on those using the illicit gold trade and previous governments have neglected this fight on this critical issue and madam deputy speaker with events moving so quickly the government has been taking every available opportunity to underline our priorities. today, my right honourable friend the prime minister is in the region visiting the uae and saudi arabia. 0ver the region visiting the uae and saudi arabia. over the weekend i discussed the situation with my turkish, israeli, emirati colleagues. studio: david lammy making a statement on syria, describing it as a moment of danger and opportunity. we will say goodbye and to viewers around the world, but for viewers in the world, but for viewers in the uk now, you can watch this. assad's victims can be found all over the world. many have found sanctuary here and the uk over the years. including a film—maker who said, there is now hop

the national crime agency have told us the platform responded to only one of its requests.arm. they say it had a long—standing policy of noncooperation with law enforcement, and that it's too early to tell if there's been any real, meaningful change since pavel durov�*s arrest that would make telegram a less damaging platform. telegram has now announced a u—turn. it's finally agreed to use the iwf�*s software to remove child sexual abuse material. did the shift in attitude of telegram come before or after that arrest? after the arrest. so it could have been done before now? it absolutely could have been done before now. keir starmer: thank you, mr speaker, and i thank the prime minister. - so, what more can be done to stop telegram from promoting criminality and extremism ? telegram has been described - as the app of choice for extremists. when he was in opposition, keir starmer called for an urgent clamp—down. the prime minister and - the government could stop this i by making it clear that directorsl of companies are criminally liable for failing to tackle this type of ma

but following a tip—off, the two men were investigated by the national crime agency for six months.is a typical carwash that you see in every city and town where you come in, have your hand car washed by a number of people. they were a very busy business and that was their source of income on a semi—legitimate outward—looking business. however, it appears that they were up to more thanjust car washing. shamo and khdir, who both had uk citizenship, were kept under surveillance and secretly recorded. they spent an extensive amount of time on their phones. that allowed us to observe them record a number of conversations, say, over a period of six months. and the fact of the matter is, perhaps for every other as the nca investigation continued, the full extent of their role in smuggling migrants became apparent. they were on tiktok and telegram openly stating, if you want to travel somewhere, come and see this person and this is their phone number. effectively like a travel agent. they would be speaking to people to explain to drop off at this point and these coordinates in that country

it's it�*s quite an extraordinary revelation from the national crime agency.of moscow stepped in to help them, and they have step up basically a nationwide carrier scheme, so a drugs gang could hand over its cash to the russian —controlled careers and at the same time, they would basically authorise the delivery of crypto currency to the drugs gangs. why does that matter? it basically meant that they could get the data many of their hands, take the crypto currency to buy more drugs to flood the uk with more product. the brush and in turn could get that out of the uk and use that for other purposes. the for

uk's drugs market — has been taken down in a sophisticated and highly succesful sting by the national crime agency people have been arrested in the uk alone, but the network stretches across 30 countries. here's our home correspondent dominic casciani. this was a moment and a simple arrest in london during the 2021 pandemic set off a worldwide investigation. this man was carrying £250,000 cash in his car. and was investigated and found next as they dug stunned them. he, since jailed, it was part of a group of couriers moving cash for drugs gangs. across the country, the police were finding them linked into networks based in russia. this later meeting in the back of a car was just typical of what was happening. the two men walk off carrying a bag of dirty money. what you don't see is the gang in the car receive an online transfer of russian crypto currency in exchange for the cash. the sums moved by the couriers have been vast and much of it under the direction of this russian woman. as the pandemic lockdowns made it harder for drug gangs to move money, her network and another stepped in to help an

a multi—billion dollar international money—laundering operation has been exposed by the national crime agencyhem in the uk. the criminal operation stretches across 30 countries, but is run primarily from moscow and has been fuelling the street drugs market here. it's been described as the biggest success against organised crime money—laundering in a decade. dominic ca5ciani reports. this was the moment during the pandemic that set off a worldwide investigation. arrested in london, fawad saeidi was carrying £250,000 in cash. he was one of many couriers moving dirty money for drugs gangs and the police soon found they were linked back to russia. another day, another exchange, watched by a surveillance team. the two men walk off with the money. the gang in the car who handed it over, receive an online transfer of cryptocurrency. many of the couriers were under the direction of this russian woman, yekaterina zhdanova. as the lockdowns bit and criminals found it harder to move cash, her network and another made them a multi—billion dollar offer they couldn't refuse. 71 couriers have been arrested

agencies on the country submit incomplete or no data. uses statistical methods to estimate the crime for those agencies to provide a calm principle of crime the nationtypically however the agencies to contribute data by the generate 2821st 21 deadline, we nonetheless had gaps as numerous agencies including some large agencies representing significant populations and not to miss data. when it came time to publish the crime the nation 2021 anna report september of 2022 only 65% of population the program is unable to estimation methods require statistically acceptable level of participation to develop year-to-year national trends. in order to close that gap of missing information the program received collecting in 2022. in 2023 produce meaningful estimates for the cheer trend between 21 and 22 2020 data from large agencies that did not submit to supplement what was reported that year for statistically acceptable level of participation a more representative trend. the trend reported crime decreasing an estimated for 21 -- 22. each crime of the nation apart as a table with crime rates for the previous 20 years. please crime the nation 22 at the report in

agencies at the national level? mr. ferguson: what a phenomenal system that is. the national crime information sent earn the work the staff does on implementing the processes within ncic. contains 22 separate files. we have over 10 million hits per day. 10 million inquiries per day from law enforcement. it is absolutely a life line, especially when it comes to officer safety. within it is the wants and warrants file. if an individual is pulled over or encountered by law enforcement and that person has a warrant or violent tendency, that officer is made aware of that. right now we are in probably going to hit one of our historic highs for the number of officers killed in the line of duty this year. ncic saves lives of those officers on the street. mr. johnson: thank you. reducing gun violence is very important. just yesterday another community was shaken by gun violence when a student killed two people and injured six others ought a wisconsin school. in philadelphia last weekend, dozens of people were shot and four died. we combat this scourge in part by conducting thorough backgrou

violent crimes, drug trafficking, illegal guns, national security, hate crimes or holding people in authority accountable for violations of the law. we will continue to work with law enforcement agencies including m.p.d. to enforce criminal law and keeping people safe. we look forward to working with the city and ensuring that they protect the rights, safety and dignity of all of its residents. [indiscernible] >> in terms of -- [indiscernible] >> i will underscore what the city has been very cooperative during the course of this investigation. so we look forward to working with the city to figure out our next step. we are pleased that the city has brought a collaborative spirit to this process to date and look forward to figuring out how to work together to address the very severe violations we have identified. >> my question to you, the city of memphis isn't answering -- [indiscernible] what is your response to that? do they have enough time -- [indiscernible] >> our goal is to fix the problem and our goal is to have nondiscriminatory for the city of memphis and hope to work with the city to implement the necessary reforms and the remedial measures recommended in the report. the city

would assign everybody at the fbi to do crimes and not national security investigations for all its history, 100 years, the fbi has been the law enforcement agencyn intelligence agency. it goes after spies, foreign spies and their american agents, who threaten to undermine this country. kash patel wants everybody at the fbi to do bank robberies, white collar crimes, but you cannot imagine the combined power of the fbi and the cia under donald trump's control to do damage to the national security of the united states. i would add that over the past 50 years since hoover died, the fbi has investigated presidents. they investigated nixon for watergate. they investigated ronald reagan for the iran-contra scandal. they investigated bill clinton, and famously they investigated donald trump for his campaign's ties to russian spies. i will bet you any wager you care to make that the fbi will not be investigating the president of the united states for the next four years. >> i'm not going to take the other side of that wager. some people might. you -- few people know more about the power of these agencies that's so important for people to understand. i r

national security and fighting crime. he'll come into the fbi not to take revenge or wage some kind of new weaponization, but instead to crens the agency- cleanse the agency, to clear out all of the deadwood. because right now the fbi is caught in the throes of its greatest corruption scandal since j. edgar hoover, and this must be stopped, must be ended, expect president -- and president trump if knows this. he knows it well. and kash patel is exactly the guy to do it. now, take a listen to this tape from our show, what, two weeks ago. take a listen, please. >> the worst weapon we have in government is a two-tiered system of justice that's been weaponized. and i think it's time that donald trump came in there with a sweeping mandate that the american public gave him to return a singular system of constitutional justice. there is no revenge list. if donald trump is successful, he will make these institutions successful forever. larry: hear that, importantly, okay? hear that, no revenge. kash patel famously uncovered the russia, russia, russia hoax that was financed by hillary clinton, right? supported by the fbi and cooked up by their

crime. when you start screwing around with an agency that is about keeping america safe, you know, you're really playing with fire. >> now, tulsi gabbard for dni, she's alarmed former nationalurity and intelligence officials, they say she has parroted russian propaganda, aligned herself with bashar al assad in the past, can she be trusted with the nation's secrets? >> well, i have two concerns about tulsi gabbard, i'm not a senator, and this is something i would hope senators would do and take into account when they reflect on their advise and consent rule, the dni is a massive administrative management job. it's the individual who sits atop our $90 billion intelligence community made up of 17 different agencies, huge management. has tulsi managed big businesses, big departments? no. and then this is more serious, as you pointed out, she was promulgating experience theories about russia invading ukraine because ukraine was doing biological warfare. stuff that is fantastical. the reason that troubles me is the leadership of the intelligence community has one job to give the unvarnished, unbiassed, unconditional truth to the president of the united states, and i worry somebod

it's not just the national crime agency.even ursula von der leyen, the president of the european commission, has called for european member states to implement an offshore processing scheme . scheme. >> now, gregg wallace has apologised for any offence that he caused after posting a video saying complaints about his behaviour came from a handful of middle class women of a certain age. downing street has labelled the comments as inappropriate and misogynistic, and culture secretary lisa nandy has raised the issue with bbc bosses. the corporation is under fire about claims senior management were warned about wallace's alleged behaviour four times. the bbc said it takes any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them. meanwhile, gregg wallace's lawyers say it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature . a sexually harassing nature. >> it wasn't in a good headspace when i posted it. i've been under a huge amount of stress, a lot of emotion. i

it's not just the national crime agency. ursula von der leyen, the president of the european commission, has called for european member states to implement an offshore processing scheme . scheme. >> now, gregg wallace has apologised for any offence that he caused after posting a video saying complaints about his behaviour came from a handful of middle class women of a certain age. downing street has labelled the comments as inappropriate and misogynistic, and culture secretary lisa nandy has raised the issue with bbc bosses. the corporation's under fire about claims senior management were warned about wallace's alleged behaviour. four times. the bbc says it takes any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have a robust process in place to deal with them. meanwhile, greg wallace's lawyer said that it's entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature and tv presenter davina mccall has thanked her surgeon kevin o'neill after surgery to remove a benign brain tumour. posting to instagram, she t

exactly as the national crime agency foresaw. but it's not just me. s not just the national crime agency. even ursula von der leyen, the president of the european commission, has called for european member states to implement an offshore processing scheme . scheme. >> now, greg wallace has apologised for any offence that he caused after posting a video saying complaints about his behaviour came from a handful of middle class women of a certain age. downing street has labelled the comments as inappropriate and misogynistic, and culture secretary lisa nandy has raised the issue with bbc bosses. the corporation is under fire about claims senior management were warned about wallace's alleged alleged behaviour four times. the bbc said it takes any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them. meanwhile, greg wallace's lawyer says it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature. >> wasn't in a good headspace when i posted it. i've been under a huge amount of stress , a under

exactly as the national crime agency foresaw. but it's not just me. t's not just the national crime agency. even ursula von der leyen, the president of the european commission, has called for european member states to travel disruption could be >> travel disruption could be on the way with met office warning, icy stretches and some dense freezing fog this week. temperatures could plunge to as low as minus l degrees —eight degrees celsius after a pretty mild weekend , with tonight mild weekend, with tonight expected to be the coldest night of the week. parts of scotland over high ground are expected to reach the lowest of temperatures. those are the latest gb news headlines. for now i'm xavier hill. now it's back to martin for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com/alerts . gbnews.com/alerts. >> and welcome back to farage with me martin daubney covering for the big man. now here's one for the big man. now here's one for you, tech billionaire elon musk is rumoured to be prepar

the national crime schools. the national crime agencylso investigating criminal activity in ppe procurement, with hayhoe set to deliver a full report within a year. deliver a full report within a year . meanwhile, sir deliver a full report within a year. meanwhile, sir chris wormald, who oversaw pandemic ppe spending, has been appointed the uk's top civil servant. masterchef star gregg wallace says he's now taking time out after apologising for calling his critics middle class women of a certain age. the bbc, though, is sticking with him , though, is sticking with him, confirming all his shows including a christmas special, will air as planned. the presenter, who faces allegations of inappropriate sexual jokes, posted an apology on social media saying he had been under stress and wasn't in a good headspace. but number 10 weighed in, calling his comments inappropriate and misogynistic. the culture secretary, lisa nandy, has already spoken to bbc bosses about the recent backlash. we've heard this morning that the uk's jobs market is steadi

according to the national crime agency. 13 arrests have been made in germany and france, while 21 boats and 24 engines were seized alongside life jackets, pumps and cash . now jackets, pumps and cash. now more on that breaking news. now a 42 year old man has died after being fatally injured by a dog in east london on wednesday morning. leon mcdonnell, who's 32, of shirley road in stratford, has been charged over the attack. she's been remanded in custody and is due to appear at barkingside magistrates court tomorrow. the dog that was involved in the incident has been seized by the police . been seized by the police. meanwhile, sir keir starmer has once again promised to reduce immigration but avoided setting specific targets in a speech at pinewood studios. he outlined his plan for change, though immigration was absent from his six pledges. when pressed, the prime minister said the government would only tackle the issue with a serious plan focusing on dismantling people smuggling gangs. reform uk has been quick to criticise the lack of measurable targets, but sir keir starmer argues con

the national crime agency said stopping channel migrants is not possible without a rwanda style schemewell, well, who would have thought it? it was a terrible mistake for labour to cancel our deterrent before it ever even started. that's why crossings are up 20% since labour came in. so joining me now, director of the centre for migration and economic prosperity, thank you very much for joining me. right. so let's forjoining me. right. so let's have a chat. let's. good. good to talk to you. speaking to stephen wolf. stephen wolf, talk to me. what is going on? what should they have scrapped rwanda. was that a mistake? >> i know you had a good christmas as well. >> i know i forget my own name from time to time. don't worry. when i wake up first thing in the morning. yeah. no, i mean, of course, scrapping rwanda was a terrible idea. and it. because it was the only real deterrent. and in you've raised the numbers of over 150,000 have crossed the channel by the small boats since 2018. and if you put that in context, that's like a city the size of portsmouth unitary authority or gateshead, f

the fact is, he has scrapped a deterrent that the national crime agency has said we need since he cameo government and scrapped the rwanda deterrent. small boats arrivals, small boat arrivals have increased by nearly 20%. his own mps are complaining about having to house asylum seekers. so can the prime minister tell the house how much more his government will spend on hotel accommodation because he scrapped the deterrent? >> prime minister mr speaker, i'd invite her to tell us what went wrong under the last government, but it take us all afternoon. mr speaker. we are going to smash the gangs that are running this vile trade. we signed. we are running this vile trade. we

the fact is he has scrapped a deterrent that the national crime agency has said we need.t and scrapped the rwanda deterrent, small boat arrivals have increased by nearly 20%. zone mps are complaining about having to house asylum seekers. so can the prime minister tell the house how much more his government will spend unheard —— hotel accommodation because he scrapped the deterrence? —— his own mps. mr speaker, i would invite her to tell us what went wrong under the last government, but it would take us all afternoon. we are going to smash the gang running this vile trade. we signed a landmark agreement with germany this week. ., ., , , week. order. you have been very loud. i week. order. you have been very loud- i think— week. order. you have been very loud. i think we _ week. order. you have been very loud. i think we will— week. order. you have been very loud. i think we will have - week. order. you have been very loud. i think we will have a - week. order. you have been very loud. i think we will have a little l loud. i think we will have a little bit of— loud. i think

in the national crime agency has disrupted a money laundering scheme between russia and british drug money sent to moscow to be exchanged for crypto currency stolen read somewhere attacks 84 people have been arrested including 71 here in the uk. the nca and its partners have seized £20 million. if you are joining us now welcome to the programme. less than three months after he was appointed the french government has tonight collapsed. translation: my dear colleagues, _ translation: my dear colleagues, the - translation: my dear colleagues, the session translation: my dear- colleagues, the session has started again, here is the result of the vote, the majority of translation: my dear colleagues, the session has started again, here is the result of the vote. the majority for the adoption of the motion, 288, for, 331. the majority required the first motion of ascension is adopted. we don't need to adopt the second one. the conclusions of the mixed commission on the project are considered to be rejected given the adoption and given article 50 of the constitution, the prime minister must

we know deterrents are important because the national crime agency have told us law enforcement alonentries successfully use deterrents-— other countries successfully use deterrents. ., , ., ., deterrents. can i remind you and the viewers there — deterrents. can i remind you and the viewers there were _ deterrents. can i remind you and the viewers there were challenges - viewers there were challenges waiting in the courts for the rwanda scheme and i might have been a plane booked but you cannot be certain rwanda would never have got off the ground in a meaningful way, just as labour cannot be sure it never would have worked? that is an unknowable situation. we have worked? that is an unknowable situation. ~ , , ., ., have worked? that is an unknowable situation. ~ ,, ., ., ., have worked? that is an unknowable situation. ~ ., ., ., .,~ situation. we passed a law to make sure the flights _ situation. we passed a law to make sure the flights could _ situation. we passed a law to make sure the flights could take - situation. we passed a law to make sure the flights could take off, - situ