The hardest part of a complex, cross-border investigation is rarely the investigation itself. It is getting the right people around the same table. When several agencies each hold a piece of the same case but no one convenes them or settles who leads, progress stalls and opportunities to help one another are lost. I learned this leading an investigation that had run for two years with little to show for it.
A case that had stalled
When I took over as SIO, I was placed in charge of a covert investigation into an organised crime gang with links to a terrorist group in Ireland. The gang was importing counterfeit cigarettes into the UK and Ireland with a street value of over twenty million pounds a year. My initial review found numerous law enforcement stakeholders across the UK, Portugal, Belgium, Spain and Ireland. Yet at no point had these agencies sat down together to agree an investigation strategy or to decide which organisation held primacy. Everyone was working their own corner of the same case, and the chances to help each other were being missed.
Listening before leading
Stakeholder engagement matters, whatever the size of the partner. As a leader I had to listen to my counterparts in other organisations and accept that what sat at the top of my priority list might be nowhere near the top of theirs. That is easy to say and hard to practise, especially in tense meetings where it would have been simpler to press my own agenda. Staying measured, seeing the case from the other side, and using tact and diplomacy allowed relationships to form. Small steps built the trust that greater progress depended on.
Why should we trust you?
Nowhere was that clearer than in Portugal. I travelled to Lisbon, a port that served as a gateway to Ireland and the UK, and where several members of the gang were living. I was met with a blunt question: why should we trust you? We were promised intelligence in the past and it never materialised. Had I not gone in person to answer that face to face, I doubt the relationship would have recovered, and the Portuguese held some of the best evidence in the case. Trust of that kind is not built by email. It is built in the room.
What changed once we met
Those meetings produced concrete agreements:
- Because the gang's leader lived in Northern Ireland, it was agreed that PSNI held primacy over the investigation.
- Working relationships were established with every partner agency.
- Monthly meetings were agreed to assess developments.
- A formal process was set for sharing intelligence and evidence.
- We built a shared understanding of each country's legal process, and of evidential opportunities available in one jurisdiction but not another, for example whether telephone intercept could be used as evidence.
The outcome
Over the following months, intelligence sharing between the partners identified not only a shipment of cigarettes but also a small consignment of firearms bound for Dublin port. The close relationship with the Portuguese authorities meant the gang members in Lisbon were placed under surveillance. When intelligence confirmed the shipment would arrive in Lisbon on a specific date, we agreed the strike would happen there. The Portuguese had the strongest evidence, and acting in Lisbon removed the risk of the firearms going missing on the way to Dublin. Three arrests were made in Portugal. They led to convictions, and to further investigative opportunities.
Three lessons for leaders
Looking back, the case turned not on a new technique but on a decision to convene the people who already held the pieces. Three things made the difference.
First, someone has to take responsibility for bringing partners together and settling who leads; primacy left unresolved is progress left on the table.
Second, priorities differ, and the leader's job is to understand a partner's position before expecting them to move on yours.
Third, trust in sensitive work is built face to face. The investigation had run for two years before anyone sat in the same room. Once they did, it took months.
How Salterton can help with major crime and specialist investigation
Salterton's specialists bring decades of frontline experience leading major crime and complex, multi-agency investigations, both in the UK and internationally. To find out how our team can support your organisation, explore our Major Crime and Specialist Investigation services.
