About two years ago there was a rift in the Liverpool underworld. Police have penetrated an encrypted messaging service called EncroChat, which is used internationally by criminals. In the UK, around three-quarters of messages about gun crime had links to Liverpool and the North West. Operation Venetic started. a national operation that led to hundreds of arrests across the country. Craig Turner, deputy director of the National Crime Agency, said: “Operation Venetic has really opened the eyes of law enforcement and the National Crime Agency and their partners to what goes on in criminal networks and how they operate in the UK.” He added: “It set out how they were able to talk to each other in a secretive way, how they were able to do their various deals within the UK and internationally, the amount of drugs that are traded quite openly on the platform, how they trade firearms that come into the country and in the United Kingdom”. Image: Craig Turner, deputy director of the National Crime Agency Merseyside Police had already focused on dismantling drug networks across county lines, but decrypted messages between criminals gave them information and clues to arrest players high up the chain. However, this has not exhausted the drug market. Youth intervention worker Paul Walmsley, who works for Halcyon Days and Nobody Left Behind, says the next generation wants to fill the supply gaps. He told Sky News: “This will be filled with younger people from the estates coming up through the ranks. “And they have to do something to gain importance in this group. And all differences are settled with either knives or guns.” Image: Youth intervention worker Paul Walmsley, who works for Halcyon Days and Nobody Left Behind Organized criminals may supply the weapons, but turf wars are disorganized. Most shootings in the UK are committed by street gangs and the victims are generally known to the police – but the rivalries are often as chaotic as they are brutal. It’s rare, but sometimes this chaos spills over into the lives of ordinary innocent people, with tragic consequences. Tony Saggers, the NCA’s former head of drugs threat and intelligence, says even hardened criminals will not tolerate the brutal killing of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel. Image: Olivia Pratt-Korbel He said: “I have every confidence that someone from the Liverpool area, who knows who has done this, will come forward. Because I think even the most senior and organized criminals will find it as despicable as we do.” Liverpool is famous for many positive things but, although we are a long way from understanding the motives, this horrific crime has once again revealed a horrific background that is destroying the community.
