Suspect in Ireland’s Largest Drug Bust on World-Check List since 2004

London, United Kingdom (PRWEB) August 20, 2007

World-Check the leading provider of risk-related intelligence on heightened risk individuals and entities, can reveal that by early 2004 it had already identified and profiled one of the four individuals recently arrested for attempting to smuggle cocaine worth £100 million into Ireland.

Media reports have confirmed that Perry Wharrie, also identified by our researchers as Perry Warry aka Steven Brown, is a suspect in a recent failed cocaine smuggling operation along the Irish Coast. According to Irish Police Superintendent, Liam Horgan, this contingent of cocaine “is the largest seizure in the country’s history”. Investigators believe they have uncovered an international drug syndicate, resulting in coordinated investigations in Spain, South Africa, the United States and Ireland.

Wharrie, who was first profiled by World-Check in February 2004 for known criminal activities and his connection to fugitive James Hurley, has now turned up as part of a suspected international crime syndicate. It has emerged that Wharrie is the same individual who was given a life sentence alongside James Hurley for a 1988 armed robbery at Hemel Hampstead, Herts, during which an off-duty policeman was killed. Hurley escaped from a coach transferring him between jails in 1994, and Wharrie was released on parole in early 2005, having served 16 years of his life-sentence.

This development has confirmed our researchers’ belief that this was the same Perry Wharrie we had already profiled in 2004, and subsequently a single merged profile was created.

“This example illustrates how World-Check’s structured intelligence can help international intelligence agencies identify such individuals. We take pride in providing up-to-date information on the movement and associates of individuals involved in criminal activities across continents and over time. It is extremely rewarding to know that we are making a positive contribution in terms of identifying risk, and creating a database that assists efforts to combat international crime syndicates,” said David Leppan, CEO of World-Check.

This particular investigation follows an incident in July off the coast of West Cork where rescuers were alerted to a vessel that had capsized. More than 60 bales of cocaine have been retrieved from the sea thus far, with a reported value of between £100 million and £300 million. The capsized dinghy was allegedly used to transport the drugs from the “Lucky Day”, a Venezuelan catamaran which has since been impounded in Spain. According to the BBC, four men, including Perry Wharrie, were subsequently caught, arrested and charged with possession of cocaine for sale or supply (BBC news, 11/07/2007).

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2534481

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/10703412?view=Eircomnet

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/spanish-police-to-dismantle-boat-in-euro200m-cocaine-probe-996141.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3490041.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6292704.stm


About World-Check

World-Check provides its global database of heightened-risk individuals and businesses to more than 2000 institutions, including 46 of the world’s 50 largest financial institutions and hundreds of government agencies. The database is updated daily in real-time by World-Check’s international research team, and is derived from hundreds of thousands of public sources. Coverage includes Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), money launderers, fraudsters, terrorists and sanctioned entities – plus individuals and businesses from over a dozen other high-risk categories. World-Check’s proprietary database and tools find direct application in financial compliance, anti-money laundering (AML), Know-Your-Customer (KYC), PEP screening, enhanced due diligence (EDD), fraud prevention, government intelligence and other identity authentication, background screening and risk-prevention practices.

World-Check offers a downloadable database for the automated screening of an entire customer base, as well as a simple online service for quick customer screening.

For more information, please visit www.world-check.com

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