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Wednesday 2 April 2014

PICTURED: Dramatic moment police swooped on members of notorious Adams Family in series of dawn raids across London

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Michael Adams, 48, and his wife Debra, 46, were seen shouting as they were bundled into a van by officers outside their home in Finchley, north London. Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Operation Octopod arrested a total of seven people this morning, including an accountant and a solicitor, in a series of raids across London. They also seized around £100,000 in cash from an office believed to be one of the Adams syndicate's headquarters.
The brother of notorious crime bosses Terry and Tommy Adams was arrested along with his wife in a dawn raid today as part of a money-laundering investigation.  
Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Operation Octopod arrested a total of seven people this morning, including an accountant and a solicitor, in a series of raids across London.  
They also seized around £100,000 in cash from an office believed to be one of the Adams 's headquarters.

Raid: A group of Metropolitan Police officers executing a search warrant on the home of Michael and Debra Adams in north London
Raid: A group of Metropolitan Police officers executing a search warrant on the home of Michael and Debra Adams in north London
Bundled out: Michael Adams, brother of gang leaders Terry and Tommy, was led out of his house
Bundled out: Michael Adams, brother of gang leaders Terry and Tommy, was led out of his house
Arrest: A total of seven people have been arrested following raids on eight different properties
Arrest: A total of seven people have been arrested following raids on eight different properties

Michael Adams, 48, and his wife Debra, 46, were seen shouting as they were bundled into a van by officers outside their home in Finchley, north London.
Members of the Adams syndicate have been linked to at least 25 murders worldwide, as well as drug trafficking, extortion, hijacking and white-collar crime.  

The group detained today, including a trained accountant turned property developer and a solicitor, are suspected of laundering millions of pounds through an investment scheme.  
The raids were carried out under the Proceeds of Crime Act and included specialist financial investigators, the Territorial Support Group, the dog unit, local police teams and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.  
They executed search warrants simultaneously at seven residential addresses in Limehouse, Shoreditch, Hendon, Finchley, Dartford, Dorking and Rye.   
Operation: Adams shouted as he was taken into a police van following the dawn raid
Operation: Adams shouted as he was taken into a police van following the dawn raid
Questioning: The 48-year-old was put into a police van and driven to a station to be questioned
Questioning: The 48-year-old was put into a police van and driven to a station to be questioned

Detectives are continuing to carry out searches of the premises, but they have already seized items such as financial documents, computers and mobile phones, which will be sent away for forensic examination.  
Four men and three women, aged between their 30s and 70s, were held by police, although none has been charged with a crime.  
The latest arrests bring the total number linked to the Adams family to 22, following similar raids in February when almost £300,000 in cash was seized along with a haul of deadly weapons.  
One raid was carried out on a £2.5million central London mansion owned by Tommy Adams, 55, and his wife Androulla, 54.  
Tommy - who once led the syndicate with his brothers Terry and Patrick - was jailed for seven and a half years in 1998 after admitting his role in an £8million cannabis smuggling plot.  
Terry, who has not been arrested in the raids, was jailed for seven years in 2007 after being convicted of money laundering.  
Coming out: Debra Adams, the wife of Michael Adams, was also arrested in the raid
Coming out: Debra Adams, the wife of Michael Adams, was also arrested in the raid
Led away: Mrs Adams being escorted from the scene by two female police officers
Led away: Mrs Adams being escorted from the scene by two female police officers
Home: The house in Finchley pictured in the aftermath of the police raid in the early hours of this morning
Home: The house in Finchley pictured in the aftermath of the police raid in the early hours of this morning
Brothers: Terry Adams, left, and Tommy Adams, right, have previously been jailed for their links to the gang
Brothers: Terry Adams, left, and Tommy Adams, right, have previously been jailed for their links to the gang
Brothers: Terry Adams, left, and Tommy Adams, right, have previously been jailed for their links to the gang

Octopod is the biggest operation to date against the organised crime group.  
Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Manson said: 'This is continuing activity, bringing together some of the Met's most skilful teams to target a highly harmful organised crime group which we believe also has links across Britain and Europe.  
'The group as a whole is known to be involved in serious and violent crime which is harming people and damaging communities across London. We believe those arrested today are laundering huge quantities of cash.  
'We believe they - with other members of the group - are responsible for a multi-million pound criminal business, the proceeds of which are laundered and either pumped into other illegal money-making schemes or spent on luxurious living.  
'Operation Octopod is a demonstration of the sheer investigative force the Met can apply to organised gangs - some of whom think they can hide criminal cash from the police.'

Credit: Dailymail.   



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