British upper-class spy circles criminal order (3,4)

I believe the answer is:

mob rule

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'criminal order' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'british upper-class spy circles' is the wordplay.
'british' becomes 'br' (abbreviation for British).
'upper-class' becomes 'u' (similar in meaning).
'spy' becomes 'mole' (mole is a kind of spy).
'circles' indicates putting letters inside (some letters go round others).
'br'+'u'='bru'
'bru' going within 'mole' is 'MOB-RULE'.

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I've seen this clue in The Times.

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