Soca chief hits back at criticism

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Staff at the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) who were critical of the organisation acted in a "disgraceful" way, their boss Bill Hughes has said.

It comes after staff publicly said Soca, which merged four law enforcement bodies in 2006, is not arresting enough criminals and is too bureaucratic.

Mr Hughes said progress was being made after a "very complex" merger and the critics were "denigrating" colleagues.

In its annual report Soca admitted that progress against crime had been uneven.

The number of operations and projects mounted by the agency against Class A drugs last year was 195 compared with 215 the previous 12 months.

And work against hard drugs took up 55% of the organisation's time and effort, which marked a 5% decrease on the previous year.

The report admitted that success in tackling the heroin problem had been "more elusive" than achievements against cocaine and other drugs.

The allegation that we are not pursuing criminals is total rubbish Bill HughesSoca

It emerged that two tonnes of heroin were seized by the agency in 2007/08, up half a tonne.

However, 84 tonnes of cocaine were impounded in the same period, marking a 20% rise.

Mounting a defence of the agency's work, Mr Hughes pointed to increased drug seizures, arrests and better intelligence as evidence that Soca was working.

And, referring to claims reported in the media earlier this week that some Soca staff said the agency had not arrested any of its 130 key targets, Mr Hughes said in fact 36 had been detained, with the possibility of more arrests awaiting overseas.

"The allegation that we are not pursuing criminals is total rubbish," Mr Hughes said.

"I'm surprised that anyone gives credence to it."

Meanwhile, when questioned about the criticisms of the organisation, Vernon Coaker, the minister responsible for Soca, said he had visited its offices around the UK and found morale to be high because of "the good job that they're doing".

'Right direction'

"They're proud of the work that they're doing and they're proud of the difference that they're making," he said.

Acknowledging the remarks made by some staff members, he added: "There may well be a few, and probably are some, a small number, who may be disaffected, who don't feel the organisation is going in the right direction.

"But overall it has to be said that my understanding and what I've seen for myself is that the morale of the organisation is high."

But David Raynes, a former customs investigator and a member of The International Task Force on Strategic Drug Policy, told the BBC he agreed with some of the criticisms levelled at Soca.

He said: "I know morale is pretty bad, I know a lot of police officers have asked to go back to force, there's widespread dismay at the actual output of the work done by the enforcement section in particular.

"It isn't that Soca needs to be closed down, it needs to get sharper."