A SCOT has been arrested during a series of raids on the first day of operations for a new crime-fighting agency, described as "Britain's FBI".
The 58-year-old man was held in the South Ayrshire seaside town of Troon yesterday over suspected identity fraud by officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA).
He was among eight people held at 10 locations the length and breadth of the country on suspicion of fraudulently applying for genuine passports or driving licences using hijacked or stolen identities.
Officials are not revealing the name of the man, who lives in the town's St Meddans Street. Other arrests took place in London, Merseyside, Cheshire, East Yorkshire and Essex following months of planning.
The launch marks the end of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), which is to be absorbed into the new organisation.
More than 4000 NCA officers will tackle crime under four commands - organised crime, economic crime, border policing and child exploitation and online protection - alongside a National Cyber Crime Unit.
It will target the 37,000 high-level gangsters and 5500 crime groups across the UK, including approximately 3500 high-level criminals in Scotland, and will work alongside Police Scotland.
One of the agency's key weapons will be Serious Crime Prevention Orders to restrict serious criminals orchestrating their empires from behind bars or after their release.
Last night, Keith Bristow, director general of the NCA, said: "This operation demonstrates what the NCA is capable of right from day one, co- ordinating law enforcement and government agencies from across the country to focus on an issue that is a key enabler for organised crime."
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