Britain has announced that it would raise by 2013 a FBI-style agency to tackle organised crime, border control, cyber crime, and online paedophiles.
UK's Home Secretary Theresa May said on Wednesday that the US-style National Crime Agency (NCA) would combat more than 6,000 organised crime gangs operating in the country, British media reports said.
However, the only major threat the NCA won't control is counter-terrorism, the reports said.
"We've lacked a strong response in the fight for criminal justice, with a fragmented approach. For the first time, there will be one agency with the power, remit and responsibility for ensuring the right action is taken at the right time by the right people.
"This powerful body will confront the organised criminality that threatens the security of the UK," the Home Secretary was quoted as saying.
The NCA will have an "intelligence hub" to build and hold a database of the national threats from gangsters. It will employ investigators, enforcement officers, intelligence analysts and technical, financial and operational specialists.
The NCA replaces the Serious and Organised Crime Agency and the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre, and will include a border policing command. It is part of the most radical shake-up of policing in 50 years which will see elected police and crime commissioners replace existing police authorities from next May.
However, UK's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said that the creation of "UK Federal Bureau of Investigation" had been "chaotic with a lack of leadership from the Home Office".
{{/usCountry}}However, UK's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said that the creation of "UK Federal Bureau of Investigation" had been "chaotic with a lack of leadership from the Home Office".
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