英国：环境大臣组建废物犯罪打击小组 警方监管与地方合力围剿非法倾倒团伙 今年已逮捕36人
英国环境大臣 Dame Angela Eagle 11月4日把警方、监管机构与地方领袖召集到一起，组建新的「废物犯罪打击小组」，加大对非法倾倒等废物犯罪的执法力度。新小组将着力找出废物系统中被犯罪分子利用的弱点、清除改革障碍，目标一致：关停有组织废物犯罪团伙。
小组首次会议将讨论如何升级对靠非法倾倒牟利的团伙的执法、并改善情报共享；环境大臣将要求小组研究执法权限还能如何延伸。Eagle 说：「长期以来，社区不得不承受废物犯罪的后果，我要改变这一点。我们的严厉执法已见成效，逮捕人数在上升。但这些人是有组织犯罪分子，我们必须保持压力、扰乱他们的运作。新的废物犯罪打击小组把警方与行业领袖聚到一起共享情报、堵住每个漏洞。我们给犯罪分子的信息很明确：我们正在逼近。」环境署首席执行官 Philip Duffy 说，把有组织犯罪分子逐出废物系统需要警方、监管与地方政府通力合作，近几个月更严厉的执法已带来30多次逮捕、资产查扣与涉事经营者许可证被吊销。
英国政府已采取的措施包括：非法倾倒或不当处理废物者面临最高5000英镑罚款；拟赋予环境署没收以废物犯罪所得购置的现金、汽车、房产等资产的权力；收紧废物许可豁免、仅低风险活动可享豁免。今年4月以来全国已逮捕36人，多地有起诉、调查与突袭进行中；环境署官员正更多地使用无人机搜寻犯罪分子，市长在打击本地区废物犯罪中的角色也将加强。位于 Kidlington 与 Hoad's Wood 的非法废物场已被完全清理，警方在调查继续的同时逮捕了嫌疑人；Wigan 的 Bolton House Road 与 Bradford 的 Midland Road 等恶劣非法场地的清理工作仍在进行。
（来源：英国环境、食品与农村事务部）
United Kingdom: Environment Secretary Forms Waste Crime Crackdown Group as Police, Regulators and Local Leaders Target Illegal Dumping Gangs, With 36 Arrests This Year
The net is closing on the criminal gangs behind illegal dumping, as Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle on November 4 brought police, regulators and local leaders together in a new Waste Crime Crackdown Group to step up enforcement against waste crime. The group will drive forward action by identifying the weaknesses in the waste system that criminals exploit and removing blockers for change, with one shared aim: to shut down the organised waste gangs.
At its first meeting, members will discuss ramping up enforcement against the gangs profiting from illegal dumping and improving how they share intelligence, and the Secretary of State will ask the group to examine where enforcement powers can go further. "For too long communities have been left to live with the consequences of waste crime. I am changing that," Eagle said. "Our tougher enforcement is already showing results with arrests ramping up. But these are organised criminals and we must keep up the pressure to disrupt their operations. The new Waste Crime Crackdown Group brings police and industry leaders together to share intelligence and close every loophole. Our message to criminals is clear: we're closing in." Philip Duffy, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said getting organised criminals out of the waste system needs everyone to work together, and that a toughened approach in recent months has already brought more than 30 arrests, assets seized and permits stripped from unscrupulous operators.
Action the government has already taken includes fines of up to £5,000 for those who dump waste illegally or fail to treat it correctly, plans to give the Environment Agency powers to confiscate cash, cars, houses and other assets bought with the proceeds of waste crime, and tighter Waste Permit Exemptions so only low-risk waste activities can benefit. Since April this year, 36 arrests have already been made, with prosecutions, investigations and raids taking place across the country. Environment Agency officers are using more drones to hunt down criminals, and mayors are being given a bigger role in tackling waste crime in their areas. The illegal sites at Kidlington and Hoad's Wood have been completely cleared and police have arrested suspects while investigations continue; work continues to clear other egregious illegal waste sites, including Bolton House Road in Wigan and Midland Road in Bradford.
来源：英国环境、食品与农村事务部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：照片：英国一处被非法倾倒的废物（资料图），Bill Kasman 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 2.0 授权 / Photo: Illegally dumped rubbish in the United Kingdom (file photo), by Bill Kasman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
