In its first progress report since launching in April, The Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), said its agents have narrowed down an original roster of over 1,000 criminals to pinpoint 130 priority targets.

But Bill Hughes, Soca's director general, said that some of the 130 were still active despite being in jail. Others were outside the jurisdiction of the police and Soca agents, he added.

The agency, which began life in a blaze of publicity in April with a promise from Tony Blair to "make life hell" for criminal gangs, has been flexing its new legal powers, granted by Parliament in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act.

Mr Hughes confirmed the agency had already used two highly controversial new powers in its war on organised crime.

A new form of "supergrass" deal, known as Queen’s Evidence, was established in the Act, allowing police and prosecutors to seek lower sentences for criminals who agree to testify against their paymasters.

"We have used the Queen’s Evidence powers," Mr Hughes said.

"It has been very important in getting into organised criminals - and making them feel less secure. This is not supergrass technology being used again, but it has resulted in co-defendants agreeing to give evidence for the Queen against their co-defendants," he said.

Soca has also won four "financial reporting orders" which force criminals to reveal their bank account details and other financial data.

One was imposed on Abdullah Baybasin - the wheelchair-bound godfather of a multi-billion pound drugs empire, jailed for 22 years in May.

The Kurdish refugee is believed to have controlled 90 per cent of the heroin imported into the UK.

He was ordered to hand over his personal accounts every three months for the next 15 years, or face further punishment.

Mr Hughes said that Soca has more than 250 active operations and had made over 200 arrests.

The agency has also supported local police forces in more than 100 operations since its launch, and has 130 liaison officers embedded with other law enforcement agencies around the world, second only to the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

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