UK makes multiple arrests in largest animal extremist crack down

Meanwhile, as the UK steps up its resolve to tackle its most common form of domestic extremism, there are signs of similar trouble beginning to bubble under the surface of the European mainland. Yesterday's sting was intended to smash up a suspected ring of hardline extremists that have been terrorising firms that carry out laboratory and drug testing experiments on animals, such as GlaxoSmithKline and Huntingdon Life Sciences. The suspects have been under a police investigation for the past two years. "There are a number of criminal offences we are investigating,"​ Adrian Leppard, assistant chief constable of police in Kent, said in a televised news conference. Alleged offences include burglary, vandalism, harassment, conspiracy to blackmail, and other such offences against animal research operations. "Some are linked, which is why we are looking at conspiracy,"​ he said. In what is thought to be the largest police operation that has targeted animal extremism in the UK to date, 300 officers executed search warrants at 29 addresses in Berkshire, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Greater London, Merseyside, Worcestershire, Northumberland, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Surrey and South Wales, as well as one in Belgium and two in the Netherlands. 15 men and 15 women were taken into custody as a result, although all are yet to be charged. "News of today's operation will act as a great fillip to the medical research community across Europe. Recent efforts of the police, government and judiciary have resulted in a significant decline in the incidence of animal rights extremism and are much welcomed by the UK's bioscience community,"​ Aisling Burnand, CEO of the BioIndustry Association (BIA), commented upon hearing the news. "We very much hope that such a coordinated investigation will help to put an end to the criminal activities of those individuals who remain determined to disrupt ground-breaking medical research." ​ Experiments on animals is a highly controversial and emotionally charged issue and the majority of those who are against it in the UK choose to express their opposition via peaceful protests. There are, however, a handful of activists that choose to take the law into their own hands and resort to violent and intimidating acts. Past incidents have included a number of threatening letters being sent to a chain of children's nurseries that at the time had links with Huntingdon; a physical attack on the home of a senior executive of GSK; and the waging of a terror campaign against a family who bred guinea pigs for research purposes, which bizarrely included digging up their grandmother's grave and removing her remains. Such tactics have received much publicity and have achieved a limited degree of success in damaging this industry in the UK, with some companies choosing not to be associated with animal testing firms, and those directly involved in the business left feeling edgy. In 2002, Huntingdon even relocated its headquarters from the UK to the calmer waters of the US after its employees, shareholders and bankers were harassed. "Anecdotally, we are hearing from our members that the environment in the UK has been a consideration when deciding whether to conduct research here or not,"​ BIA spokesperson Francetta Carr told Outsourcing-Pharma.com. "However, since the legislation was introduced in 2005 we now have the toughest laws in the world regarding this issue." ​ Indeed, the problem of extremism peaked in the UK a few years ago, and has been declining since new legislation was introduced in 2005 outlawing the targeting of companies who supply goods and services to companies involved in animal testing. For example, statistics published by the BIA in January indicate there has been a consistent fall in the number of 'home visits' where protestors would gather outside a family home and cause a civil disturbance, from the peak of 259 in 2003 down to 20 in 2006. In 2006 there were 50 cases of property damage compared with 86 instances the year before. Other crimes such as personal assaults and abusive and threatening messages have also nosedived. Most encouragingly for UK biomedical scientific research, the number of companies and organisations succumbing to pressure not to work with those involved with animal research has also dropped sharply from 103 in 2005 to only 39 in 2006. However, the BIA did note that while incidents in the UK are declining, it has seen indications of a displacement of such activity to mainland Europe. "Anecdotally, there were an increasing number of incidences in 2006 involving UK activists taking part in extremist activity abroad, primarily in Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands,"​ BIA spokesperson Matt Worrall told Outsourcing-Pharma.com. In January, ABPI Science & Technology director, Dr Philip Wright even went as far as to say that proposed amendments in a new serious crime bill that would allow restriction of travel by organised criminals would "help in restricting the UK's currently most successful export". ​ At the time of publishing Outsourcing-Pharma.com was unable to locate any statistical evidence to quantify the extent of this European infiltration. A Metropolitan Police spokesperson confirmed that such incidents involving UK citizens are increasingly taking place in Europe and said: "We are working with lots of overseas law enforcement agencies regarding the issue." ​ However, he could not comment any further due to the fact that Operation Achilles was an ongoing live investigation. So, despite the progress, extremist behaviour has been curbed but not defeated, and the battle continues.