Disruptive tactics pay off for crime fighting body

Chief Reporter

Thursday 19 July 2012

SCOTLAND'S leading crime fighting agency has tackled more organised gangs than ever before and arrested 75 of the most dangerous criminals in the country.

SPEAKING OUT: Gordon Meldrum

Custom byline text:

Lucy Adams Chief Reporter

Using new techniques the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) disrupted organised crime groups on 109 occasions in 2011/2012 – twice as often as the previous year. The "disruptions", which include seizing cash and drugs and preventing them from accessing business contracts with the public and private sector, forced some to abandon their operations and others to leave the country.

The agency's annual report published yesterday revealed their investigations led to 194 arrests and resulted in prison sentences totalling 170 years.More than 782 kilogrammes of illegal drugs were seized, with an estimated street value of £18.45 mil- lion, along with 328kg of adulterants – the chemicals used to bulk out drugs and maximise profits for dealers. There was a significant spike in ecstasy seizures – reflecting growing demand for the 90s dance drug.Among those put behind bars in the last year were Tahir Rashid and Daryl Hampson who were part of a gang involved in the supply and distribution of heroin into Scotland. Operation Lomida led to the arrests of four members of the group, combined prison sentences of 22 years and the seizure of heroin worth £460,000.Another operation, Norvac, closed down an Albanian organised crime group based in Edinburgh who were supplying and distributing cocaine throughout the UK. Admerin Beu was convicted in May and sentenced to eight years after being caught with £38,000 worth of drugs hidden in a car's airbag compartment. The head of this crime group has, according to the document, since returned to Albania.Deputy Chief Constable Gor-don Meldrum, director-general of the SCDEA, said: "Drug dealing continues to be the bread and butter business of serious organised crime groups. By disrupting the locations and transport routes used by serious organised crime groups we make it tougher for them to ply their illegal trade. By disrupting cash flow we can fracture their supply lines and prevent them from doing deals to purchase further illegal drugs bound for Scotland's shores. The increased quantity and purity of drugs seized this year, and the seven-figure total of hard cash, demonstrate just how effective that approach has been."Working with our partners in both the public and private sector to identify vulnerabilities we have made it harder for criminals to operate, whether by forcing them to sell their houses and taking their cars, or by making it difficult for them to obtain business licences and contracts. "Intelligence tells us personal standing is extremely important to criminals. By tarnishing their reputation we can diminish their standing in the criminal community and ultimately make it more difficult for them to operate as their criminal influence is reduced. Above all, we want to ensure our disruptive activity makes life as difficult as possible for the serious organised crime groups we target. This includes taking key members out of operation through incarceration or by forcing them to relocate out of the country and abandon their established criminal world. Again we have seen major success in that over the past year."Some £5.2m worth of criminal assets were identified for restraint, with more than £1m of cash seized from criminals.Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: "Drugs wreck communities and the SCDEA are playing a key role in the work to disrupt the supply of hard drugs into the hands of those intent on peddling them. What is also clear from today's report is criminal networks and methods are continually evolving. But it is also clear the SCDEA and other law enforcement partners are recognising and responding to new methods, and are cracking down on those intent on flouting the law."

Contextual targeting label:

Block list

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Disruptive tactics pay off for crime fighting body

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED