- guardian.co.uk, Sunday May 25 2003 00.11 BST
- The Observer, Sunday May 25 2003
Citing a notable increase in the number of Asians being jailed in young offenders institutions, the report predicted that many of the groups that started out aiming to protect the community from racist attacks would soon evolve into full-blown criminal syndicates.
Last week, brothers Sukhdev and Rajinder Bassi were jailed for a total of 20 years after fighting vicious turf wars with guns, bombs and kidnap campaigns to control the supply of millions of pounds worth of heroin. Using strong family ties to the Punjab to keep a close watch on their gang members as well as expedite supplies of the drug from abroad, the pair tried to live modest lifestyles to hide their true roles in the drug trade.
Attempting to expand their operations, they found themselves at war with another gang and responded with drive-by shootings, a bomb attack on a pub and the fatal shooting of a restaurant manager.
When police raided the brothers, they discovered several guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, explosives and 17 kilos of heroin with a street value of more than £1 million. Police have estimated that Sukhdev, 26, and Rajinder, 25, had made millions of pounds worth of profit from their activities.
In east London and other parts of the country, including Bradford and Birmingham, Asian gangs are active not only in drug dealing but also in worldwide credit card fraud. Cards stolen in one part of the country are often spirited abroad in a matter of hours.
The increasing prominence of Asian drug trafficking gangs is also leading to rising rates of heroin addiction within the Asian community.
UK community: 2,331,423
Asylum applications (India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan): 6,230
Active criminals: 3,000
