Nine people were arrested following raids on bars, clubs and restaraunts in Camden Town and raids on 3,500 safety deposit boxes in Hampstead and Park Lane. Eight venues in Inverness St [mostly owned by Singham], chalk Farm and Camden High St were raided on Thursday as part of Operation Rize - an investigation into safety deposit box use by criminal networks.
Christie Anthony Singham, 47, of Milton Park, Highgate, appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates Court last Friday charged with 30 counts of making indecent images of children and two counts of possessing indecent images of children and was remanded in custody.
Officers have found £35 million in cash, four firearms, forged passports and indentity documents, quantities of Class a drugs, illegally imported elephant tusks, items used for organised befit fraud, evidence of human trafficking, paedophilia and money laundering.
At least 3,500 safety deposit boxes held at a security firm's vaults in Hampstead and Park Lane were raided in June last year. The police claim that the raids have disrupted around 21 criminal gangs. Tax officails have taken £4 million. Inverness St bars such as Cafe Brasil where the aprrots were caged and Bar solo were closed but the bars are now open again and running business as usual while a police van sits on guard on Inverness St outside the [said to be] pervert's clubs.
Camden police's licensing chief Sgt Bob Dear said : [to the newspaper] "Given the seriousness of the allegations, the licences of these premises could be reveiwed".
Despite the allegations of child pornography critics have questioned the legality of confiscating the contents of every box at the depositries.
Christie became known to Animal Rights activists following a campaign against him when the Camden New Journal revealed that he was keeping parrots in a tiny glass box in the window of Cafe Brasil a few years ago. Residents campaigned against the cruelty and the Animal Liberation Front were told at which point the parrots were removed and rehomed within a day. [The A.L.F. activists who contacted Singham have since moved from the area].
Chritis has been remanded in custody charged with various crimes including crimes against children.
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