There is no such thing as a victimless crime, Security Minister, and Chair of the Organised Crime Task Force, Jane Kennedy has said.

The Minister was speaking at an awareness evening in Londonderry on the role of the Task Force and how the public have an important role to play in helping to tackle the threat posed by organised criminals.

She said: "Crime is crime. I do not accept that any crime is 'ordinary', or that any criminal is decent. Nor do I accept that any crime is victimless.

"Just ask the parents of children who are preyed on by drug dealers about victimless crime. Ask the retailers whose very livelihoods are threatened by those selling counterfeit goods about victimless crime. Speak to the car owners whose car engines have been destroyed by laundered diesel about victimless crime. It simply doesn't exist; we are all its victims; it is a myth which needs to be dispelled."

Ms Kennedy spoke of the benefits of the multi-agency approach to tackling organised crime and of the high levels of international co-operation.

"Organised crime is an international problem. It recognises no boundaries and our response too must be global in nature. Only last week for example PSNI made the largest ever find of cannabis in Northern Ireland, after an operation which involved the tracking of the consignment from Spain, through the Irish Republic, to Northern Ireland. A fine example of international co-operation."

The Security Minister also told the gathering that the public has an important role to play in confronting this problem.

She said: "The fight against organised crime is not just a matter for Government and the law enforcement agencies. We can lead from the front but the multi-agency, joined up approach will only be fully effective when it has the support of the entire community."

Last week Drugs Squad officers seized 500 kilos of cannabis valued at £2.75 million adding to the £12 million worth of cannabis already seized by police between January 2003 - 2004.

(MB)