Underworld: Behind the Scenes of the NCA

Underworld: Behind the Scenes of the NCA

Underworld: Behind the Scenes of the NCA exposes the evil world of serious and organised crime. The National Crime Agency invites listeners to hear from its officers and key partners as they lift the lid on some of the most complex cases they have been involved in. It offers unrestricted access and never-heard-before details of operations tackling the most chronic and enduring organised crime threats including people smuggling, child sexual abuse, gun and drug trafficking, money laundering and modern slavery. Hear fascinating first-hand accounts from Senior Investigative Officers, NCA specialists and partners from global forces to learn how the NCA has used its world-leading intelligence capabilities to bring some of the most dangerous criminals to justice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

November 11, 2025 45 mins

He was feted “the best smuggler” – now he's serving a 17-year jail term. In this opening episode of series two, the NCA reveals how it took down Amanj Hasan Zada, the ringleader of a global people smuggling network moving migrants across borders and into the UK on small boats. Based in Preston, Zada thought he was untouchable – until the NCA exposed his operation and brought him to justic...

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It's 2019, and a senior figure in the Kinahan Cartel is in custody, facing over 20 years behind bars for drug trafficking. Meanwhile, the NCA receives intelligence pointing to a buried cache of firearms and ammunition in a field in Northern Ireland.

What followed was a complex and extraordinary NCA-led investigation – one that exposed a secret plot and delivered a major blow to organised crime.

Hear from specialist ...

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November 11, 2025 50 mins

David Saynor, now in his seventies, used his limousine business to groom and sexually abuse teenage girls in Rotherham from the late 2000s to the early 2010s.

Arrested under Operation Stovewood – the UK's largest investigation into non-familial child sexual abuse – Saynor's horrific crimes were exposed thanks to the courage of survivors and the dedication of specialist teams at the NCA.

Hear from the officers who put hi...

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November 11, 2025 47 mins

From a Bristol car wash, Slovakian national Maros Tancos ran a ruthless modern slavery ring with the help of his partner Joanna Gomulska. Together they lured vulnerable victims with false promises before forcing them into unpaid labour and stealing their freedom.

An extensive NCA investigation tore the operation apart, leading to their 25-year combined jail sentences.

Specialist officers from the Agency reveal how this hidden horro...

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December 26, 2023 33 mins
When police forces need help with an investigation, they call in The Specialists from the NCA’s Major Crime Investigative Support team. MCIS officers have supported UK policing on the majority of high profile serious investigations in the last ten years. This final, fascinating episode looks back at some of those cases, the people who worked on the operations and the tactics which have helped them catch the worst of the UK’s offend...

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December 19, 2023 37 mins
This episode focuses on Mohammed Mokter Hossain, who ran a sophisticated people smuggling network bringing people into the UK from his home in East London. For a fee, he could also arrange for you to leave the country in the back of a lorry, which is ideal if you’re wanted for murder or child abuse offences, as two of his customers were.  The Travel Agent looks at how Hossain’s million-pound criminal empire was brought crashing dow...

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December 5, 2023 32 mins
The NCA works with law enforcement agencies across the world to track down fugitives on the run and return them to the UK to face justice. In this episode, we’ll hear from an NCA team working on the ground in Spain to capture British criminals, plus success stories from the agency’s Most Wanted campaign run in conjunction with Crimestoppers, the Spanish authorities and UK policing.

Hoste...

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November 22, 2023 36 mins

How exactly was a gang ringleader caught and jailed after more than £100 million in dirty cash was smuggled into Dubai? Money laundering is one of the biggest threats to UK security, allowing dangerous, organised crime groups to fund their illegal operations and commit more crime. Sunshine and Lollipops investigates how NCA officers and financial investigators hunted and caught Abdullah Alfalasi and his ring of conspirators.

 


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November 7, 2023 38 mins

If you’re a murderer on the run, or an international drug trafficker wanting to stay under the radar as you travel, a most prized possession will be your fraudulent passport. In The Golden Ticket, we learn about how NCA officers dismantled a crime group supplying fraudulently-obtained genuine passports, enabling dangerous criminals to operate and evade capture. This incredible episode highlights how the NCA used secret recording de...

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October 24, 2023 31 mins
Gun Runners goes behind the scenes of an NCA covert operation which stopped Britain’s biggest ever haul of military grade automatic weapons being smuggled by boat up the River Medway in Kent. The NCA’s covert operations to capture those attempting to smuggle weapons into the UK has seen criminals sentenced to over 488 years in prison in the last two years alone. In this episode we hear from the surveillance and firearms officers wh...

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October 24, 2023 39 mins

The second episode - Rap Sheet from Hell - unearths the horrifying details of one of the most prolific child sexual abuse offenders the NCA has ever investigated – Matthew Falder. Sadly, there are more than 830,000 adult offenders in the UK, using ever-more-sophisticated digital tools in an attempt to remain anonymous. Host Ellie Flynn speaks with psychologists, the Crown Prosecution Service and the NCA officers who caught Falder a...

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October 24, 2023 40 mins

Underworld's first episode delves into the life and crimes of Robert Dawes, a dangerous international criminal kingpin, who used violence and corrupt officials to traffick huge shipments of drugs from South America to Europe and the UK. Illegal drugs blight communities across the UK, with 160 tonnes of cocaine and heroin consumed there each year.

Hear the fascinating story of how Dawes was finally arrested and jailed after an NCA i...

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October 24, 2023 2 mins

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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