http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=579307 The untouchables 2001-04-20 03:29:12 The untouchables Apr 19th 2001 From The Economist print edition The profits from organised crime are soaring, and its bosses are invulnerable. That is why so many top policemen want new laws, of the sort America used against its mafia FOUR months ago, Tony Blair summoned the heads of Britain's intelligence and law-enforcement agencies to a meeting at Downing Street. The purpose of the unprecedented summit was to discuss the alarming growth in organised crime. All that resulted from the meeting, at least in public, was a bland statement that the government was determined to crack down on organised crime. But the threat is regarded as so serious that ministers are wondering whether to introduce a law like America's Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organisations Act (RICO). Aimed at those who engage in "a pattern of racketeering activity", RICO helped smash the New York mafia families in the 1980s. Bosses received long sentences for offences ranging from extortion to murder, after a surveillance operation involving 171 court-authorised wire-tapping and bugging operations monitored by hundreds of FBI agents. In its evidence to Lord Justice Auld, who is examining the case for criminal-law reform, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) is arguing that Britain should have something
