Members of the public in Northern Ireland are increasingly prepared to help inform on drug barons and racketeers, a new report suggested today.
British government research found more than half of those questioned said they would inform to the authorities in an attempt to take gangsters off the streets.
Out of those surveyed, 52 per cent said they would report on crooks suspected of amassing illegal fortunes, compared with 48 per cent of those questioned a year earlier.
More than 1,200 people were surveyed for the latest analysis. With police, customs, inland revenue and Northern Ireland Office officials all involved in the Organised Crime Task Force, 92 per cent of people questioned said the body was a good idea.
Nearly everyone (95 per cent) believed the North has a problem with drug dealing, fuel smuggling, prostitution and other rackets.
The vast majority (79 per cent) thought loyalist and republican paramilitaries carried out most of the trade.
PA