NCA-led operation makes six arrests including half-naked crime group `leader`

The suspected head of an organised crime group wanted in connection with a massive drugs seizure ten years ago has been one of six people arrested as part of an international multi-agency operation. Bare-chested James Mulvey, 40, was detained in Lithuania on a European Arrest Warrant following an investigation involving hundreds of officers worldwide. The National Crime Agency (NCA) worked with the Financial Crime Investigation Service in Lithuania to locate Mulvey, who was held by armed officers at a house in Kaunas. Two ballistic vests were found during a search of the property and officers recovered a Glock gun and more than 100 rounds of ammunition from a separate address linked to Mulvey. Extradition proceedings were due to begin at court in Vilnius on Thursday (March 30). Investigators, backed by the West Midlands Regional Asset Recovery Team and HM Revenue and Customs, believe that the five others arrested during UK raids across the Midlands and Somerset are members of the crime group linked to a multi-million pound VAT fraud and money laundering. The five were a 42-year-old woman from Charlton Adam, Somerset; a 37-year-old man from Tamworth; a 50-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman from Wythall; and a 58-year-old man from Atherstone. A seventh person, aged 66 and from Solihull, was due to be interviewed. All six have been released but are still under investigations. Around £40,000 was recovered from addresses in the UK, along with computers and digital devices which were being forensically examined. And a number of addresses were searched in Mauritius and documents and digital devices seized. Mulvey, originally from Solihull, is wanted in connection with a 2007 seizure in Belgium of 20 kilos of cocaine, 365 kilos of cannabis and 10 kilos of phenacetin. The drugs were destined for Ireland. Five people were jailed in the UK in 2009 for a total of 88 years. NCA operations manager Adam Warnock said: “The NCA’s international partnerships mean we can extend the UK’s reach overseas to combat criminal networks and the serious financial crime which props them up. “James Mulvey has been targeted by the NCA, the West Midlands RART and HMRC as we believe he heads a crime group involved in drug trafficking, money laundering and a multi-million pound VAT fraud. “Our investigation is ongoing.” More than 200 officers have been involved in the investigation with further assistance coming from West Midlands Police and the South West Regional Asset Recovery Team.