WIREDGOV

Police across Scotland have been involved in co-ordinated operations against serious organised crime which have resulted in the arrest of 473 people since September last year.

They have also seized drugs with a street value of nearly £13 million, including nearly 50,000 kg of Class A drugs and 42 firearms.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill welcomed the successes and signalled that the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce, which holds its sixth meeting today, was determined to use all measures at its diposal, including new legislation, to tackle the scourge of organised crime.

Kenny MacAskill said:

"These successful operations show that the police and other law enforcement agencies are working hard to put the criminal gangs out of business.

"However, they are also a stark reminder of the threat these gangsters continue to pose to our citizens and the communities they live in.

"Every kilo of Class A drug seized and every gun wrestled from these hoodlums means less misery on our streets.

"That is why there will be no let up in the fight against these criminal networks. The Scottish Government, working with the other members of the Taskforce, is committed to use all the means at its disposal to tackle serious organised crime.

I was pleased to see the UK Government's Police and Crime Bill will extend the civil recovery period to seize assets to twenty years, which I support and had previously written to the Home Secretary about.

"Hand in hand with this, our forthcoming Criminal Justice and Licensing bill will include measures targeting those people who direct crime or those who turn a blind eye to it and those who knowingly live off it.

"We are determined to ensure that there is no hiding place for organised criminals in Scotland."

Below are examples of some of the operations that have been carried out against serious organised criminals:

Donald Birrell

The First Financial Reporting Order in Scotland was granted on October 31 2008 against Donald Birrell.

Birrell was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for money laundering and fraud. In addition the Financial Reporting Order requires him to disclose all details of his financial affairs every 6 months to SCDEA until June 2016.

Birrell was among 37 people arrested as part of the SCDEA Operation Acumen, supported by Grampian Police and the Scottish Prison Service. The operation was aimed at dismantling the supply of drugs in the North East and across Scotland. Total prison sentences handed down in relation to the 37 arrests amounted to 80 years.

Central Scotland Police

Since April 2008 within the Central Scotland Police force area, in one operation, 15kg of Class A drugs were recovered with a street value of £7,000,000. In that period the force also recovered nearly £60,000 in cash.

Dumfries & Galloway Constabulary - Operation Zebra

Operation Zebra, targeted one of the principal Heroin suppliers in the Dumfries and Galloway area. The Operation culminated in the arrest of the main principal in possession of 1kg of Heroin with a 'street value' of £100,000. The principal and 1 other subsequently pled guilty at Glasgow High Court on 23 December 2008 and await sentence later this month. During the Operation further quantities of heroin, cannabis resin, cannabis and cocaine with a 'street value' of £7,500 were recovered.

Grampian Police - Operation Centaur

Operation Centaur was a Grampian led operation into a Serious Organised Crime Group who resided in the Moray area. The group was responsible for the supply of cocaine, amphetamine, ecstasy and cannabis resin throughout the area for several years, had links to other Force areas and were responsible for intimidation and violence in the local community. In November 2008, 4 individuals were sentenced for a total of 23 years imprisonment.

During the operation 8kg of Amphetamine, 1.5kg of Cocaine and £70,000 was seized. The resulting impact in the community was extremely positive and welcomed by the local public.

Lothian & Borders Police - Operation Hurricane

Operation Hurricane was an intelligence-led police surveillance operation targeting cocaine supply in Edinburgh and Midlothian. The operation was concluded in October 2008 with the conviction of the main principal for drugs supply offences. He was sentenced to 7.5 years. In total 6kgs of cocaine with a street value of £300 000 was recovered together with assets valued at £64,633.79.

Strathlyde Police - Partnership Working

In a recent serious organised crime operation involving Strathclyde Police, Security Industry Authority, the UK Borders Agency, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Trading Standards More than 200 licensed premises were visited in the Strathclyde area as well as 111 security sites, with more than 80 security staff being checked. This yielded 23 illegal weapons and drugs with an estimated street value of £500,000. A total of 295 people with alleged links to serious and organised crimes were arrested.

Operation League 2 (all Scottish forces)

Operation League 2 is a national operation led by Strathclyde Police targeting South East Asian Serious Organised Crime Groups (SEASOCG) involved in the production of cannabis cultivations throughout Scotland. Since Operation League 2 commenced in September 2008 19,026 plants cannabis planst with a value of £5.7 million have been seized.

SCDEA

Operation Aquarius was an intelligence led SCDEA operation into the supply of controlled drugs in the West of Scotland and Lanarkshire and resulted in the prosecution at the High Court in Glasgow of 9 individuals, 3 of whom were the major targets of the operation. A lengthy trial took place at the High Court in Glasgow lasting over 6 weeks and resulted in the successful conviction of the main players including Michael Nordon who was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment.

Operation Sidewalk e-crime - on October 17, Craig Campbell was sentenced to 3 years and placed on the Sex Offenders Register after pleading guilty to a series of child grooming offences.

Operation Mercury - 3 of the principal suspects of Operation Mercury were found guilty at Kilmarnock High Court, Preston, Boyle and Innes. They were given custodial sentences totalling over 12 years.

Operation Ivory - On October 29 2008, at the High Court in Edinburgh, Mark Inglis was sentenced to 3 years, 9 months imprisonment; Ian Gallagher was sentenced to 5 years; and John Smith was sentenced to 3 years and 4 months.

Operation Algorithm - Gerald Duffy was sentenced on November 27 2008 to 4 years and 9 months for fraud.

Prosecution of Martin Glover

This was a series of mortgage frauds from 2005 onwards. Glover committed the frauds with a loss to the building societies amounted to £320,727 and the total amount borrowed was £1.7 million. Glover pled guilty and was given 30 month sentence at Glasgow Sheriff and Jury Court.

James Stevenson, Confiscation Order - The confiscation case against James Stevenson settled at Edinburgh High Court on October 24 2008. The court recorded the benefit from criminal conduct as £1,023,000 and made a confiscation order for £747,000. Cash of £204,000 had been forfeited previously.

Related Information

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice