A brand new Channel 4 documentary series launching tonight (19 July) gives viewers a rare insight into the covert police tactics used by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SW ROCU) as they investigate a human trafficking gang making huge profits exploiting vulnerable women as sex workers in Cheltenham. Filmed over three years, with…
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Two people have been jailed for their roles in conspiring to smuggle eight Albanian migrants into the UK in a small boat following an investigation by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SW ROCU). James Wisbey, 55, formerly of West Hoe, Plymouth, was the skipper of the yacht, which got stranded off the coast…
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A further 14 people have appeared in court in connection with a South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SW ROCU) investigation into the large scale supply of drugs, possession of firearms and ammunition, and money laundering. They were all arrested as part of Operation Venetic, the UK law enforcement response to the take down of…
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Four men appeared at Bristol Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Wednesday 31 March) to face charges relating to a South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SW ROCU) investigation into the large scale supply of drugs, possession of firearms and ammunition, and money laundering. The men were all arrested last year as part of Operation Venetic, the UK…
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A Bristol-based organised crime group that used an industrial unit in Merseyside to grow cannabis with a street value of more than £1 million each harvest has been sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court. The group had been remanded in custody since their arrests in autumn 2019 as part of an investigation by the South West…
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A man arrested at a house in Bristol with a rucksack containing £18,000 worth of cocaine, 44 ecstasy tablets and nearly £4,000 cash has been sentenced to seven years in prison. Antonio Segura, 54, of no fixed abode, was arrested in August last year at a flat on Hotwells Road by officers from the South…
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More than 30 arrests have been made across the South West, with two guns, 17kg cocaine, 5kg MDMA, £790k cash and several high value cars and jewellery seized as part of the region’s response to Operation Venetic, the UK’s biggest ever law enforcement operation. The South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SW ROCU) has worked…
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Pictured is Protect, Prevent and Prepare Officer Ben Johns (right) receiving the Industry Champion award from NCSC’s Chris Ensor A team’s work to encourage young people across the South West to develop their cyber skills – while ensuring they stay above the law – has earned them the title of Cyber Schools Hub Industry Champion…
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