Scotland88
April 11th, 2004, 09:13 AM
Ulster loyalists join with mafia in refugee racket
(by Sinead King, The People)
Loyalists linked to the UVF are smuggling desperate refugees into Northern Ireland, The People has learned.
In the latest money-making scam by the terror group's pals in Scotland, the UVF has joined forces with the Russian Mafia in the sick promise of giving asylum seekers a new life.
It's estimated the organisation is making up to £1,000 for each refugee successfully trafficked into Northern Ireland - and dozens have gone through already. From Belfast and Larne immigrants are encouraged to move into the Republic.
There they'll find a large legal refugee population among which the illegal immigrants can 'disappear'. Earlier this year Scottish police set up a unit dedicated to cracking the rising drugs threat already posed by gangs linked to loyalist terrorists. Now their attention is to turn to the latest UVF menace on their doorstep as a corridor of human smuggling opens up between Ulster and Scotland.
Last night (Sat, Sep 21) Dumfries MP Russell Brown called for a crackdown on the 'deplorable trade'. He said he was aware how young refugee women were already being forced into prostitution. When they pay their bills and reach southern Ireland, he said, they could 'melt away into the background.'
"The UVF being involved is no surprise," he told us.
"They are dealing in drugs and that causes human misery just as the horrendous activity of smuggling people does.
"People are being smuggled into Northern Ireland via Stanraer and Cairnryan for money and it's a deplorable trade."
It's believed the UVF picks up some refugees after Rangers matches at Ibrox and then smuggle them back to Ulster posing as fans returning from games.
It has dozens of safe houses, huge pubs and nightclubs and is involved in running a number of cargo vehicles back and forth across the Irish Sea. Loyalist sources say the terror group, which also operates a major Glasgow-based drugs network with links across the Scottish west, was approached by Russian Mafioso in the early summer.
The Russians explained that many of the asylum seekers were being intercepted by police - more than 100 were detained on the move in the first three months of this year - and that they needed help to protect their operation.
The UVF is now thought to pocket about one third of the £3,000 per person the Mafia makes. And that's despite the fact that the Russians arrange the entire trip from eastern Europe as far as Scotland.
A former member of the organisation in the Glasgow area told us: "Houses and pubs are used if people need them.
"Then they are put into lorries and cars and just brought over to Northern Ireland.
"Local know-how is a great thing.That's what the Russians bought into."
Up until late last year immigrants detained in Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway were usually thought to have arrived in Britain from Northern Ireland.
However it's now known that in many cases they were en route for the Republic via Ulster. Police sources in Scotland believe that already the UVF could have helped 'dozens' of refugees.
One would only comment: "The police are taking stock of the situation day by day."
David Strang, the Chief Constable of Dumfries and Galloway, has previously confirmed 'the short sea crossings to Northern Ireland are used by many asylum seekers.'
Source:
http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/Sunday_People/arts2002/loyalists_join_mafia9-22-02.html
(by Sinead King, The People)
Loyalists linked to the UVF are smuggling desperate refugees into Northern Ireland, The People has learned.
In the latest money-making scam by the terror group's pals in Scotland, the UVF has joined forces with the Russian Mafia in the sick promise of giving asylum seekers a new life.
It's estimated the organisation is making up to £1,000 for each refugee successfully trafficked into Northern Ireland - and dozens have gone through already. From Belfast and Larne immigrants are encouraged to move into the Republic.
There they'll find a large legal refugee population among which the illegal immigrants can 'disappear'. Earlier this year Scottish police set up a unit dedicated to cracking the rising drugs threat already posed by gangs linked to loyalist terrorists. Now their attention is to turn to the latest UVF menace on their doorstep as a corridor of human smuggling opens up between Ulster and Scotland.
Last night (Sat, Sep 21) Dumfries MP Russell Brown called for a crackdown on the 'deplorable trade'. He said he was aware how young refugee women were already being forced into prostitution. When they pay their bills and reach southern Ireland, he said, they could 'melt away into the background.'
"The UVF being involved is no surprise," he told us.
"They are dealing in drugs and that causes human misery just as the horrendous activity of smuggling people does.
"People are being smuggled into Northern Ireland via Stanraer and Cairnryan for money and it's a deplorable trade."
It's believed the UVF picks up some refugees after Rangers matches at Ibrox and then smuggle them back to Ulster posing as fans returning from games.
It has dozens of safe houses, huge pubs and nightclubs and is involved in running a number of cargo vehicles back and forth across the Irish Sea. Loyalist sources say the terror group, which also operates a major Glasgow-based drugs network with links across the Scottish west, was approached by Russian Mafioso in the early summer.
The Russians explained that many of the asylum seekers were being intercepted by police - more than 100 were detained on the move in the first three months of this year - and that they needed help to protect their operation.
The UVF is now thought to pocket about one third of the £3,000 per person the Mafia makes. And that's despite the fact that the Russians arrange the entire trip from eastern Europe as far as Scotland.
A former member of the organisation in the Glasgow area told us: "Houses and pubs are used if people need them.
"Then they are put into lorries and cars and just brought over to Northern Ireland.
"Local know-how is a great thing.That's what the Russians bought into."
Up until late last year immigrants detained in Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway were usually thought to have arrived in Britain from Northern Ireland.
However it's now known that in many cases they were en route for the Republic via Ulster. Police sources in Scotland believe that already the UVF could have helped 'dozens' of refugees.
One would only comment: "The police are taking stock of the situation day by day."
David Strang, the Chief Constable of Dumfries and Galloway, has previously confirmed 'the short sea crossings to Northern Ireland are used by many asylum seekers.'
Source:
http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/Sunday_People/arts2002/loyalists_join_mafia9-22-02.html