CRIME SYNDICATE THREAT: EXPERT

A Serious crimes expert believes that organized crime will take a
stranglehold in Port Moresby within five years.

UK crime specialist Richard Allsopp, who was in the country for a
week, said there were signs foreign crime syndicates are already
operating "silently" in the capital, using nightclubs as fronts.

"Their operation will surface publicly in five years time and will
spread fear among the city residents. High-powered gun battles between
rival gangs and hard drugs like cocaine and heroin will hit the
streets of the city. These drugs are more deadly than marijuana," he
predicted.

Mr Allsopp said this on Friday after a week of surveying a number of
nightclubs in the city.

"The signs similar to foreign operated organized under world crime
syndicates in UK's nightclubs operations are already here in Port
Moresby. Their operations involve drugs, prostitution and other
violent crime incidents. This syndicate will hook up high ranking
police officers, NCDC and other government organizations."

Mr Allsop said he had stumbled into these symptoms when interviewing
nightclub operators, police and NCDC officials in his survey. "There
was an exchange of semi-automatic firearms between two foreign-owned
nightclub operators recently.

"Three times the police raided a foreign owned nightclub. In one of
those raids, they found cocaine there. Yet that operator is still
operating. The authorities did not close it down or prosecute them.

"There is no doubt that a syndicate already exists and government
officials are in it."

Mr Allsop said that organized crime operators are very cunning and
dangerous.

"They will corrupt or kill anyone that comes in their way. They will
start with their own people and then will work into the local
nightclub operators."

Mr Allsop said these foreign-owned nightclubs not only operate these
joints but also operate other businesses involved with the
entertainment industry.

Mr Allsop, a violent crime specialist, has 40 years police experience
mainly as a drug squad officer in UK. The British High Commission
invited him here for a week to speak on violent crime.

Mr Allsop's prediction comes a day after it was revealed that death
threats have been made against officers of the Internal Revenue
Commission involved in the fight against corruption and to rid the
city of horse race machines.

IRC boss David Sode said police had passed on information that two
Asian leaders were plotting to use Papua New Guineans to kill IRC
officials whose work was affecting their illegal businesses.

During a recent Parliamentary Public Accounts committee hearing,
Gaming Board chairman Nat Koleala and Mr Sode revealed that operators
of the horse race machines were involved in human smuggling, money
laundering, transfer pricing and tax evasion. These incidents are
signs of organized crime and these operators were mainly of Asian origin.