Drugs and gun running linked to site security

Merseyside police have made more than 20 arrests under Operation Aladdin, part of which involves looking at doubtful security firms who use building site security as a way of legitimising activities such as drugs and gun running.

The police said they believe similar activity goes on in every major city in Britain. Though places like London and Glasgow deny there are problems, this could be because contractors are too scared to report them. The main target nationwide is urban regeneration and police suspect that certain council officials are involved in the scam.

Central to the problem is that security firms do not need to be licensed . Many have been set up using known criminals either as directors or operatives. The problem has become so acute in the north east that Northumbria Police has carried out a special study, led by Superintendent John Stoddart, to discover the number of security firms in the area with known criminal connections.

Northumbria Police are currently investigating problems that Wiltshier is having with a security firm demanding large sums of money for unlawful site protection on the Jubilee Estate in the West End of the city.

The police are not hopeful of moving to the stage of making arrests because they have received no formal complaints. Instead it is pinning its hopes on agreeing a voluntary accreditation scheme with Newcastle City Council to involve all security firms working on council contracts, whether directly employed by the council or not.

The problem appears to have spread to the Meadowell Estate in North Shields, but other north east councils deny they have problems with site protection.

In Liverpool, police were critical of three major contractors who were employing security firms which it would not recommend. But, as no problems have been reported, the police are powerless to act.

West Midlands Police denies it has a problem over site security but admits it has had several inquiries in the last few weeks.

Operation Aladdin originally involved looking at nightclub doormen, but as investigations developed directors and operatives of many of the city's leading security firms were arrested and links with the city's construction sites were discovered.