What is the recent evolution (in terms of network connections) of British organized crime?

In the past, a British organized crime boss was the center of local operations; which meant that he was at the top of a hierarchy of local criminals through which he dominated the area (The Economist, 2004). Nowadays, Britain’s top organized criminals are masters of underground networking. Their wealth and power comes from being able to connect “illicit operators (“suppliers and clients, who may be spread over several countries”) with one another or with “overground” businesses where money can be laundered” (The Economist, 2004). 

References

The Economist (2004), “Organized crime: From godfathers to networkers”, April 1.