International crime-fighters are to meet in Glasgow to look at how to stop waste being illegally shipped from the rich world to the poor.

Interpol is holding a three-day summit in the city with a special focus on tackling the underworld international trade in rubbish, including hazardous substances.

Law enforcement agencies believe this trade is worth billions of pounds a year and believe it needs the same kind of global response as the war on those who traffic guns, drugs or people across borders.

Scotland's hosting the meeting is being seen as a substantial honour reflecting cross-agency success disrupting environmental crime in this country.

Calum Macdonald, Executive Director at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, chairs Interpol's Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Committee Advisory Board. Writing in today's Herald, he said:

"Interpol has been at the forefront of these transnational investigations since 1992 and in SEPA we’re looking to play our part in this work, while recognising that the scale and coordination of the efforts have to be increased and widened in scale and scope.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming our global colleagues to Scotland, showing how we’re tackling some of these issues, learning from experts from around the world, and committing to working with them to hit criminality hard, tackle vulnerabilities in the market that criminals can exploit, and prevent them from operating and profiting from crime.”

Joseph Poux, Deputy-Chief of Environmental Crimes Section, US Department of Justice, said: "Criminals do not respect borders. To the contrary, they use geographic boundaries to conceal their illegal activities and to provide “safe havens” for themselves and assets derived from their crimes."

Deputy Crown Agent Lindsey Miller, who leads the "Disrupt" strand of Scotland's Serious Organised Crime Taskforce, which also meets on Monday, said: "Scotland is leading the way because of the excellent partnership between SEPA and the specialist prosecutors tasked with tackling both wildlife and environmental crime and serious and organised crime."