SAS Catching the Criminals S01E10 (2024)
SAS Catching the Criminals S01E10 (2024)
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00:00Covert surveillance, reconnaissance, deception, stealth, and disruption.
00:07These are the skills I learned on the military front line.
00:11And they can be used to combat a different enemy.
00:15Britain's criminals.
00:17Police! Police!
00:20That's the teams running to position now.
00:22My name is Billy Billingham.
00:24And I spent over 20 years in the SAS.
00:29Now I'm going to show you how SAS tactics are helping to crack down on anti-social crime across Britain.
00:37All teams now in position.
00:39Strike, strike, strike.
00:40Some enforcement agencies are already using SAS tactics to hunt criminals.
00:45Check this out. This is exactly what they were looking for.
00:49Hey presto.
00:51And I want to find out how much the police are doing too.
00:54Go, go, go.
00:57She's going to pick up a target right now.
00:59You're lying, aren't you? And you know very well it's illegal.
01:02Let's go. You need to move quick. Stand by.
01:04Banged up. Job done.
01:20During my time in the regiment, I did operations all over the globe.
01:24And on those operations, there was one common denominator.
01:28Teamwork.
01:30You're only as good as a soldier who's got your back.
01:40In Manchester, a couple of police teams and financial investigators have come together
01:45to take down an intricate network of suspected organised criminals.
01:50So this morning, we're rolling with GMP.
01:52We're going to take down simultaneous targets.
01:54We're going after money launderers.
01:56Criminal cash, criminal assets. Stand by.
01:59Money laundering is a process used by criminals
02:02to legitimise the cash made through illegal activity.
02:06In this case, it's drug dealing.
02:08And the sums at stake are massive.
02:11Detective Inspector James Coles from Greater Manchester Police
02:15is running the large-scale multi-agency operation.
02:19Morning, mate. Morning, mate.
02:21Good to see you again. Good to see you.
02:23What have we got today?
02:24So we've got Operation Triathlon.
02:2613 addresses today. OK.
02:28Warrants across Economic Crime Unit
02:31and Serious Organised Crime in Greater Manchester Police.
02:33What we've done here is we've identified an opportunity
02:36for a Tier 1 drug dealer who is currently in jail.
02:40And he is serving a significant sentence.
02:43He's got a benefit figure of £13 million,
02:46which means he's already owed the government,
02:48or His Majesty, £13 million from drug dealing in the past.
02:51Right. But what he's doing is he's laundering his assets.
02:54He's got X amount of criminal money,
02:56but then he converts it to buying a house, a property, a vehicle,
02:59high-value assets, watches, jewellery, etc.
03:02And that's what he's doing, but he's doing it through multiple people,
03:06family, friends, associates they met in prison.
03:09Sharing the dirty money, spreading it out. Absolutely.
03:11And that's what a money laundering operation is.
03:14The tentacles of organised crime are far-reaching.
03:18Even though the leader of this criminal gang is in jail,
03:21he's still using his contacts on the outside
03:24to launder the £13 million he owes to the government.
03:28But to catch a big fish, you need an even bigger net.
03:32So what we're going to do today is we're going to arrest
03:34every single person in his organised crime group.
03:36We've used the whole menu of our proactive tactics,
03:39and what we're able to do is identify the individuals,
03:43so we've got 13 properties.
03:45There has been a level of proactive, covert operation around this group
03:48to get a full picture.
03:50We've got specialists in money laundering investigation
03:52to tackle and deep-dive into them.
03:54So all the surveillance while he's been away in prison,
03:57identifying where the money is, identifying what he's invested in,
04:00all shared the money out, the dirty money,
04:02and then we're just going to strike all that and take that down today.
04:05Yeah. If we find cash today, we'll have the power to take it.
04:08If we charge them with money laundering,
04:10we can do a Proceeds of Crime Act level of enforcement,
04:13but hopefully we'll properly dismantle this organised crime group.
04:16We're not sending them to jail for the drugs,
04:18but also for getting their assets as well.
04:20This is a typical military-style operation today.
04:23I mean, it's a total surprise. Yes, absolutely.
04:25Speed, aggression, bang, surprise. Absolutely.
04:27Hit them, totally unknown to them. Yeah.
04:29How big's the team today? There's 70 individuals on this arrest.
04:3270? There or thereabouts, yes. Let's go get them. Happy days.
04:35Money laundering is a cash business,
04:37and with that cash comes high-value items like cars, jewellery and property.
04:43But with the economic crime unit in tow,
04:46officers today will also be on the lookout for a paper trail
04:50pertaining to legitimate businesses set up to hide ill-gotten gains.
04:57I mean, my understanding of money laundering, washing off dirty money,
05:01hiding it so it's in someone else's name,
05:03I would have thought that would be the most difficult thing to get back.
05:06Yeah, the Procedure to Crime Act is quite a draconian bit of legislation.
05:09It means that it really tries to prevent criminals
05:11from benefiting from their criminality.
05:13Some of these individuals are living quite a lavish lifestyle,
05:16seen from social media and other avenues, and they're claiming benefits.
05:21Claiming benefits and flaunting a lavish lifestyle
05:24is one way to get yourself noticed by the authorities.
05:28But criminals who remain under the radar are much harder to catch.
05:32And after months of covert policing and financial intelligence gathering,
05:37GI Calls is hoping to put the final nail in the suspected gang's coffin.
05:43So it's about 300 metres.
05:46The formation's all done, final check on target, it's all good to go,
05:50and the clearance has been given, so we're rolling now.
05:53Covertly, to a degree, to the target,
05:55and then it'll be ramped up to whatever necessary to gain entry.
05:59Time to target.
06:01Ten seconds. Ten seconds.
06:04Just so it's a very early call for these people,
06:07it's like just after five in the morning.
06:20So the team now moving on to target, still covertly at this point,
06:23no need to ramp it up till they're ready, everybody's in the final positions.
06:28Across town, we also have eyes on Strike Unit 2 in real time,
06:33as they make their approach to target.
06:36This is a spin-off job that the Economic Crime have developed
06:40in terms of the money laundering side, so we dealt with the drug side,
06:44and then they've now developed the people that are involved
06:47in moving all the money and the financials.
06:52All teams now in position.
06:54All teams now in position.
06:57With all teams on target, it's a go, go, go.
07:03Lights on, back of the vehicle.
07:05Target arms over there, all lit up at the back.
07:15Release!
07:20Release!
07:22As you see, entry made, immediate, team in, shock of capture,
07:25got control of the house immediately.
07:28A rude awakening indeed for this household.
07:32And it's a similar scenario across town,
07:35where the reinforced composite door
07:37means they must use something more suitable than a sledgehammer.
07:52Police! Police with a warrant!
07:55Police! Police coming in! Police!
07:59In the space of minutes,
08:01the operation has yielded two properties and five suspects.
08:05From initial entry to in, dominated, probably about four seconds.
08:09No messing around.
08:11With a further 11 strikes on target happening imminently.
08:15Not bad for a morning's work.
08:22When you join the military, you become part of a team.
08:26On operations, the regiment becomes your family.
08:29You all work hard together to keep that family alive and safe.
08:35In Oldham, Greater Manchester,
08:37teamwork and a military approach to training
08:40is also helping to save lives.
08:46My name's David Wyatt, I'm the leader at Oldham Mountain Rescue Team.
08:50We're a search and rescue service
08:52that covers the area to the east of Oldham,
08:56the Pennines and Saddleworth Moor.
08:59These are all volunteers who are helped by Greater Manchester Police
09:03carrying out proceeds of crime raids
09:05and using ill-gotten gains seized to fund good causes.
09:11The scenario for tonight is we've got an injured hiker
09:14who's been making his way up the tops and has come to grief.
09:18He's gone down a hole in some rocks and he believes he's broken his leg.
09:22We're going to be focusing on steep ground work.
09:25Obviously, we're going to have a casualty,
09:27so we're going to look at first aid.
09:29Questions?
09:31Awesome. Don't forget your helmets.
09:33The team respond roughly to 50 emergency call-outs a year.
09:37And in adverse weather conditions like tonight,
09:40it's a race against time to reach the injured casualty.
09:49Yeah, Control from Mobile 2, just for your information,
09:52we're now through Dove Stones heading up the track over.
09:57Time is of the essence always.
09:59It's that golden hour of making sure you get there
10:02as soon as you've got any information about a casualty.
10:05For us, it's just about getting there as soon as we can,
10:08depending on the situation, of course.
10:11Yeah, 3 from 2, receive your last message.
10:13Responded to say that we've just arrived at Channel Clough.
10:16We're just pulling up out of the way over.
10:18Straight, straight.
10:20At the rendezvous point,
10:22teams start making their way up to the rescue location.
10:25And it's easy to see why having the correct training and gear
10:29is vital to this type of work.
10:31It's all quite rocky up there and a lot of loose debris,
10:34so just need to make sure there's nothing coming down on people.
10:37Safety's number one for everything.
10:39We have something of a mantra in mountain rescue.
10:43You look after yourself first because you're no good to anybody
10:46if you need rescuing.
10:47Then you're looking after your team because as a team
10:50you need to be able to help whoever it is that's affected.
10:53Then it's the casualty.
10:54But it's got to be in that order, otherwise things go wrong.
10:57My personal mantra is always a little further.
11:00And that's certainly what these volunteers are doing
11:03on a wet Friday night,
11:05when most people are at home in front of the TV or down the pub.
11:10Just to go up this way.
11:12Watch out for these loose rocks.
11:16At the top, the team have located the injured casualty.
11:20We've got people looking after the casualty in here,
11:22so these are our casualty carers.
11:24They'll stabilise the casualty, make sure the casualty's warm,
11:27capable of being moved, and then we'll package them up
11:30onto the stretcher and go.
11:32We've got some specialist crag teams that are setting up a rope,
11:37so setting up an anchor up the top there.
11:39What we're then going to do is attach the stretcher onto the rope
11:42and lower them down.
11:43Even though this has been a training session,
11:46it's been a complete success.
11:48We're running this scenario as a training exercise for the team.
11:51We've got a few new members in the team,
11:53so it's absolutely imperative that they train
11:55in as near a real-life situation as possible.
11:58In the regiment, every day is a school day.
12:00You're always learning,
12:02and the military approach to training here will pay dividends.
12:05On the variety of operations they do with the police and ambulance service.
12:09The vast majority of people you see here,
12:11they've been working till probably five, six o'clock this evening.
12:14We've got teachers, we've got police officers, we've got all sorts.
12:17So it's really important that we get those people volunteering for us,
12:20but it costs money. It costs money to train them,
12:22it costs money to kit them out.
12:24All this gear that we wear costs thousands.
12:26Alongside donations from the public,
12:28the rescue team have also received some money recently
12:31from an unlikely source, criminals.
12:34We don't want much slack cos we're going to go off the edge here.
12:37We're really fortunate.
12:39We put in a request to the Proceeds of Crime Fund
12:42and we were really bowled over with the support from GMP.
12:45It came good in effectively covering the cost of a new vehicle.
12:49It's been a massive godsend.
12:51The Proceeds of Crime Fund is a pot of money
12:54made up of cash and assets seized from criminals.
12:57In this case, their application for £50,000
13:00was successful and the money is going towards a new minibus
13:04for use on these types of operations.
13:06Right, yeah, wait, wait, wait.
13:08OK, carry on.
13:10So the van that we've got via pocket,
13:12it gives us the ability to get to jobs quicker and together en masse.
13:16The most difficult thing for anything,
13:18especially in an environment like this, is it's a single track.
13:21You end up with personal vehicles all over the place
13:23and you can't get an ambulance up and you can't get back down.
13:26So leaving our vehicles at the base is absolutely paramount
13:29so we can get as many people as possible to the job with all the right kit
13:33and the vehicle from pocket will help us do that massively.
13:36Without it, we're a vehicle down and potentially five people down
13:39so they need to come in their own vehicles.
13:41OK, a bit further.
13:42With the casualty down safely, the training session is over
13:46and it's back to base for a debrief.
13:48You train hard to actually deliver a service easily every time you go out.
13:53Nothing's easy, but the more you train, the harder you train,
13:56the easier it becomes.
13:57We do it because we enjoy the environment
13:59and we want to give something back to the community.
14:02It's constantly about looking out for each other.
14:04Luckily, the only injury is a cold foot.
14:07But if you're one of the 42 casualties they rescued last year,
14:11it would have been made possible through training and teamwork.
14:15Plus, a little elf from the ill-gotten gain seized by Greater Manchester Police.
14:21In another part of Manchester,
14:23the dust is starting to settle after a dramatic morning call.
14:29Just like in the back of the days in the regiment where we'd do our attacks,
14:32it would be a surprise right to the last moment.
14:35Everyone's covert, right to the door if you can.
14:38As soon as it goes noisy, bang, that's it.
14:40In, sharp, take control.
14:42Just like they did in the old days.
14:45We've got two subjects upstairs, male and female,
14:48part of this conspiracy, one of the laundry jobs, they're upstairs.
14:51But we'll sort to get sit-reps on all the individuals, part of the operation.
14:55We'll start saying positive, negative,
14:57and I'll give them a bell just to see how they're doing.
14:59The sit-reps, meaning situation reports, so far are positive,
15:03with all 13 addresses now hit without incident.
15:08As the main suspects are being called,
15:10the police turn their attention to a third individual
15:13at the property whose behaviour is suspicious.
15:17Stand up for us, pal.
15:19Have you got anything on you that you shouldn't have?
15:21How come you've got so much clothes on?
15:27Were you asleep when we came through the door?
15:29You're going to be redders, mate. You're going to be absolutely redders.
15:32You're going to overheat.
15:34I'm not fully happy with that, Ronnie, to be honest.
15:38I'm not fully happy with that, Ronnie, to be honest, mate.
15:40I'd probably get him in the back of the van.
15:42I want to take his jacket off. Just turn around for a minute, grab a seat.
15:45It's not her crime to wear five coats, but given the circumstances,
15:49his choice of attire does pose some curious questions.
15:53Were you ready to leave or something, being the way you were dressed?
15:56Or were you just cold?
15:59Do you not feel that's a bit suspicious, though,
16:01being dressed in, like, five coats at five o'clock in the morning?
16:04Mate, I'm sweating in one jacket.
16:07So far, he's remaining silent.
16:09This is one mystery that will have to be solved
16:12at the custody suite later today.
16:15So we've got three prisoners now, and I'm just going to wait about an hour
16:18for the vans, so they're going to start searching.
16:20So we're looking for, obviously, money, phones, drugs,
16:23and potentially firearms. They're the main things.
16:26But also financials.
16:28It's been a money-laundering investigation.
16:30We've got the officer in case here, so any kind of paperwork.
16:33You can see there's ounces of paperwork.
16:35I think what we'll do is we'll take it on a case-by-case basis.
16:38We know what type of accounts they're using for this particular criminality.
16:41This is quite a lengthy process now, right?
16:43Yeah, it can be, yeah, it can be.
16:47At another property not far away,
16:50Strike Unit 2 have also begun their search in earnest.
16:58Very quickly, some items of interest catch the eyes of the investigators.
17:05We've seized two air rifles.
17:08We've also had a Rolex watch back.
17:12They will be seized, and the suspects will be questioned
17:15over where the money came from to pay for these potentially high-value items.
17:22At D.I. Cole's property, the economic crime team have their work cut out.
17:31As you can see, now we're into phase two.
17:33There are dedicated teams to each room,
17:35going through it physically, every little bit of the house.
17:38Paperwork might not be as exciting as cash and high-value items,
17:42but it's essential to cracking the case
17:45by exposing the legitimate businesses being used to hide dirty cash.
17:53As more evidence is seized, the first suspect makes his way to custody.
17:58Speed, aggression, surprise, bang, one off the streets.
18:06Covert intelligence gathering is something I've done all over the world,
18:10from Africa to the Middle East.
18:12But there are also problems closer to home.
18:16And covert tactics are being used right here on Britain's streets,
18:20and sometimes uncovering frightening results.
18:24Officer Trading Standards are briefing a team of their officers
18:28for an unusual mission today.
18:30Day two of our underage sales operation today.
18:33This is covert operation.
18:35We've got a volunteer to pick up in the next half hour or so.
18:38We're going to different locations where we're testing for knives
18:42and for nicotine-inhaling products, i.e. vapes.
18:45For both of them, the age restriction is 18.
18:47The team here are looking to test
18:49how well local shops obey the rules
18:51when it comes to not selling products to youngsters.
18:54They've had intelligence from the police
18:56that specific shops have sold knives to kids under 18, the legal limit.
19:01There were around 50,000 knife-related incidents in one recent year,
19:05so this is important.
19:07Amazing. OK, then, let's get ready, then, guys.
19:13Their plan is to deploy a surveillance camera
19:17Their plan is to deploy a 16-year-old test purchaser
19:20and see if the shops on their list will sell products
19:24that are only meant for people over 18.
19:27We can't reveal their identity, but we'll call the test buyer Claire.
19:31Gorgeous.
19:33So we're here today in connection with test purchase operation.
19:36Today we're going to be looking at purchasing knives
19:39and nicotine-inhaling products, i.e. vapes.
19:41You should avoid panning around the shop.
19:43You've got your covert camera on.
19:45We've shown you how to use that before.
19:47We will just go through it again very quickly,
19:49but keep it covered up until the time when you're going up to the store
19:53to make a sale, and then act naturally from there, OK?
19:58In terms of anything that...
20:00Any questions you get, you must answer truthfully.
20:03So if they ask you your age, you tell them you're... 16.
20:06OK, and if they ask you for any ID, you say... I'm going.
20:09OK, then. Are you ready? Yeah. OK, let's go.
20:12Now Claire's had her mission brief,
20:15it's time to hit the streets of Watford Town Centre
20:18with the covert kit hidden on her.
20:21The date is 7 February 2024.
20:24The time is 13.37.
20:26The product under test is knives.
20:28The operative is aged 16.
20:31Claire is led into the target retailer.
20:34And now it's a nervous wait
20:36while the 16-year-old attempts to buy a knife.
20:41So this is the only situation where we get a little bit nervous
20:44because the volunteer is unattended for a short amount of time
20:49and they're in a premise which we have intelligence.
20:52This is why we try to be as close as possible
20:55so that we are protecting the volunteer.
20:59But after a short wait...
21:01No sale? No. OK, good.
21:03The problem is, at the moment,
21:05there's heightened police presence in the town centre.
21:07There's lots of police cars right outside the premises.
21:20So, quite pleased with that.
21:22We're going to move on to the next one now
21:24and see if the same happens again.
21:28The mission continues as Claire is taken to a second shop.
21:33Will the shopkeeper fork the rules and sell a knife to a 16-year-old?
21:40Couldn't find any.
21:46OK.
21:48OK, they've probably then removed them from sale,
21:51you know, after the last time getting caught out.
21:53I don't blame them, to be fair.
21:55It's not really a product they need to be selling at an off-licence.
21:59The team carry out several more test buys,
22:02but nobody sells any age-restricted products to the test buyer today.
22:07It's a success, but the operation didn't end here.
22:11In true military style, the trading standards team didn't stop.
22:15Based on some additional local intelligence,
22:18they decided to persist in this particular zone they had a target lock on.
22:24So, no sales on the first round of the operation,
22:28the test purchase of the age-restricted products,
22:30but a couple of days later we went back out
22:33and our 16-year-old volunteer did manage to buy a knife,
22:36which obviously is quite concerning.
22:39They weren't challenged for their age or ID.
22:43The premises that sold the item took no...
22:46put no measures in place to prevent the sale from happening.
22:50That matter is being investigated now
22:52and could have quite serious ramifications for that business.
22:55This was a shop in plain sight on the high street,
22:58where there had been some local intel
23:00gathered by some concerned members of the community.
23:03The knife was sold by a convenience store.
23:06The convenience store, we did have intelligence
23:08that they had sold knives previously.
23:11Obviously, this is a concern to trading standards
23:14that children are able to buy knives without challenge
23:17from high street stores, because obviously we all know
23:20the consequences that that can lead to with knives on the street
23:24and the link to violent crime.
23:26Knife crime in the UK has surged by 5% in the past year
23:30and it's reaching unprecedented levels.
23:33So it's encouraging to know that this simple,
23:36yet effective covert disruption tactic
23:39is being used by trading standards on a regular basis.
23:43And as someone who knows the arm a knife can do,
23:46I think that's a good thing.
23:51Back in Manchester, on the ground, the lengthy search continues.
23:57The Economic Crime Unit focus on the paper trail,
24:00whilst the police turn their attention to a key piece of evidence
24:04that is yet to be located.
24:06The main suspect's mobile phone, which he's claiming doesn't exist.
24:11Sometimes it don't take army tactics to find a phone,
24:16just something civvies are more used to doing.
24:19The main suspect, we know he's got a phone.
24:22He's not got one, so we're just calling it now.
24:25Right.
24:26Probably going to be upstairs, so we're just ringing it now
24:29off a job phone, see if we can hear it.
24:32Keep going, Lee.
24:34Keep going again, Lee.
24:36PHONE RINGS
24:40Oh, what's that?
24:42That must be your phone. Is that your phone?
24:44That's not your phone, is it not?
24:46Oh, OK.
24:48OK. OK-dokey. Right, thanks for that.
24:52Right, happy days.
24:54So, main subject here was phones, critical part of the investigation.
24:57He's telling us that he doesn't have a phone, it was upstairs.
25:00But whilst under caution, he's saying it's not my phone,
25:02he's saying he shares a phone with his wife,
25:04which is highly unlikely.
25:06We found it upstairs, so good result all round.
25:08We all share our phones with our wives, don't we?
25:11A good find.
25:13This mobile phone could prove crucial to establishing links
25:16between the suspect and the money-laundering ringleader,
25:20who is currently in jail.
25:24At the other address, a search of the vehicles is under way.
25:30But it's inside the house where police teams strike gold.
25:35Multiple cash finds concealed in various locations around the house.
25:40These seizures, along with weapons and high-value items,
25:44all point to potential criminality and money-laundering.
25:48Looking at it, I would suggest we've got £3,000, approximately,
25:53on top of some other bundles of cash, which is really good,
25:58given that we've got a lot of cash.
26:01Given, obviously, the investigation is around the money-laundering
26:05for the OCJ.
26:07We've got a couple of mobile phones back,
26:10and we found two safes in the address.
26:14The contents of this safe, however, will remain a mystery
26:18until the forensic teams get their hands on it back at the station.
26:23With the operation winding down at both properties,
26:27the main suspect makes his way to custody for questioning.
26:31Bit of a bad day today, mate, eh?
26:35OK, so this phase virtually is about to be wrapped up.
26:37What's the results, mate? What do you think?
26:39We've got all our subjects that we needed,
26:41and the two main subjects on this address have been transported out.
26:44We've got phones, we've got a lot of paperwork,
26:46some high-value items, some jewellery.
26:48The main thing is the two individuals.
26:50The rest of the job, the operation, has gone well.
26:5213 warrants today, got seven prisoners.
26:55I think we've got about four or five grand in cash,
26:57and it's been, as planned, a completely successful operation.
27:01Well, so success above and beyond, really.
27:03Yeah.
27:04From start to finish, mate,
27:05it reminded me very much of the old days being with the regiment.
27:07Roll to target covertly, and then bang, the strike went in.
27:1013 addresses, seven suspects, and a mountain of evidence,
27:14all made possible by teamwork, planning and military precision.
27:19Early start, but a great finish. Great job.
27:25BANG
27:29One thing I've learnt as a soldier
27:31is the chain is only as strong as the weakest link.
27:35Working together as a team can bring massive results,
27:39and most rewards are earned, not won.
27:54BANG