Giuseppe Greco has been jailed for seven years by Ipswich Crown Court after attempting to smuggle £118,400 worth of drugs through Stansted Airport.

The man, Giuseppe Greco, 24 who was a carpenter from Sardinia attempted to smuggle the drugs on January the 16th 2008. For a reason that is still not clear Greco attempted to abandon his luggage containing the drugs at the airport but was stopped by Revenue and Customs officers.Greco, when challenged, claimed to have lost the keys for his baggage. However when they were scanned it was discovered that there were 33 rectangular packages inside them. As a result of the discovery the officers forced the locks on his baggage and a set of scales was found with most of the rectangular packages containing cannabis resin, along with two containing cocaine. Also inside were ten pellets that looked as if they had been made to be carried internally. Greco was sent to the local hospital to ensure that there were no more packages inside his body.In sentencing Greco, Judge Mckittrick stated that his addiction to drugs and previous convictions involving prostitutes could not be overlooked and he had decided to issue a custodial sentence for the Italian.

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Posted in: Stansted Airport

Lax regulation in Britain's Overseas Territories risks serious damage to the UK's reputation in the global financial system, an MPs' report has warned

Lax regulation in Britain's Overseas Territories risks serious damage to the UK's reputation in the global financial system, an MPs' report has warned.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee noted that the Foreign Office had accepted the evolution of territories such as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands as tax havens, as a way of diversifying their economies.
But it said that the territories' financial services lack the investigative capacity fully to tackle problems like money-laundering, and warned it was "complacent" for UK authorities to allow them to manage the risks alone.The committee called for the Foreign Office and UK crime-fighting agencies to bring in more investigators and prosecutors to bolster regulatory efforts in offshore financial centres for which Britain has responsibility.The report came as the Commons Treasury Committee announced its own inquiry into offshore centres, which will look into whether they have contributed to international financial instability.Seven of the UK's 14 Overseas Territories have offshore financial centres, with major operations in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands and smaller centres in the Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, Anguilla and Gibraltar.The PAC report warned: "The UK's reputation in the financial services industry is linked to how well its Territories perform against international standards."The (Foreign Office) and its Governors have a key role in protecting the UK from serious reputational risks and possible financial liabilities by ensuring that global standards for banking, insurance, securities and defences against money laundering, to which the UK has signed up on the Territories' behalf, are being met.
PAC chairman Edward Leigh said: "The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not doing enough to manage the risks arising from the UK's liability for the 14 Overseas Territories choosing to remain under British sovereignty.
"In most of the Territories, the standards of regulation across areas such as banking, money laundering, insurance and securities are not as good as those in the Crown Dependencies. The FCO, actively supported by other relevant agencies, must do more to help the Territories, especially the smaller ones, strengthen regulation. Where necessary, this should include bringing in more UK investigators and prosecutors."

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Posted in: Foreign and Commonwealth Office