The NCA has a strategic role as part of which it looks at serious crime in aggregate across the UK, especially analysing how organised criminals are operating and how they can be disrupted.

To do this, it works closely with regional organised crime units (ROCUs), local police forces, and other government departments and agencies.

[4] It was established in 2013 as a non-ministerial government department,[5] replacing the Serious Organised Crime Agency and absorbed the previously separate Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) as one of its commands.

[7] These include a specialist database relating to injuries and unusual weapons, expert research on potential serial killers, and the National Missing Persons Bureau.

In her statement to the House of Commons, May stated that the new agency would have the authority to "undertake tasking and coordination, ensuring appropriate action is taken to put a stop to the activities of organised crime groups".

[11] In June 2011, the coalition government announced that SOCA's operations (serious drug trafficking investigative and intelligence sections) would be merged into a larger National Crime Agency to launch in 2013.

On 23 September 2011, the Home Affairs Select Committee called for the Metropolitan Police's counterterrorism role to be given to the NCA when it became operational, saying that the terrorist threat was a "national problem" and that there would be "advantages" in transferring responsibility.

[20] The process of looking at moving counterterrorism into the NCA was put on hold on 9 October 2014 by Home Secretary Theresa May due to an increase in the terror threat level.

[22] The NCA came into existence under provisions granted by the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which received Royal Assent on 25 April 2013.

This was due to the fact that under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that led to a political settlement and power-sharing in Northern Ireland, policing was subjected to a far higher degree of community oversight and monitoring than in other parts of the UK.

[31]: 5  Previously co-operation was with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (a police force which was responsible for similar matters in Scotland).

The National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates that there are as many as 50,000 people in the UK involved in the downloading and viewing of indecent images online.

The Director General of the NCA has suggested that the British public cannot expect every person viewing indecent images to enter the criminal justice system – not least because of the sheer scale of the problem.

The NCA received 12,505 referrals from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in its first 12 months, compared to 9,855 in 2012, an increase of almost 27 per cent.

Thirdly there is the challenge of the "failure" of its predecessor agencies, SOCA and the National Crime squad and the fact that its success needs to be judged over years and not months due to the nature of the threat.

The bureau acts as the centre for the exchange of information connected with the search for missing persons nationally and internationally.

The MPB also manages a missing persons and Child Rescue Alert website, and analyses data to identify trends and patterns in disappearances.

Criminal case files are received by SCAS from all police forces in the UK at an early stage in the investigations.

The information is coded and placed on a single database, ViCLAS (Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System).

SCAS are also responsible for identifying good practice, or "what works", so the analyst's report may contain "investigative suggestions" that might guide the officer to a specific line of enquiry not yet considered.

When a prime suspect has been identified and charged with an offence, senior analysts are able to provide specialist evidence in court, to assist with the prosecution of offenders.

It has 24/7 capacity for Interpol and Europol with direct connections to their databases, provides international Liaison Officers, and co-ordinates all inbound and outbound Cross Border Surveillance requests with Schengen partners.

Two more men were arrested, one for attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and the other for assisting an offender, after their car was stopped by armed officers.

[59] In May 2014, the NCA conducted a major operation that resulted in the seizing of more than 100 kg of cocaine from a Greek bulk freighter in Scotland.

[60] In July 2014, the NCA with partners jointly disrupted the "Shylock" banking trojan believed to have infected at least 30,000 computers.

The operation was possible after an international law enforcement team cracked the encryption of a mobile phone instant messaging service from EncroChat.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "This operation demonstrates that criminals will not get away with using encrypted devices to plot vile crimes under the radar.

[67] On 20 February 2024 the NCA, in collaboration with Europol and other law enforcement agencies, announced that it had seized websites and infrastructure belonging to the ransomware group LockBit.

[69] On 4 December 2024, the NCA revealed Operation Destabilise, an NCA-led international investigation into two Russian money laundering networks, Smart and TGR Group.