Police warn of Breaking Bad drug labs threat
POLICE chiefs are warning of the threat of Breaking Bad-style drug ‘factories’ springing up in Scotland.
Gangsters are setting up operations to manufacture legal highs including Spice, a form of synthetic cannabis that can turn users into virtual zombies.
The warning is in papers to be submitted to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) tomorrow.
Police Scotland said its New Psychoactive Substance (NPS) unit ‘looks for trends in the manufacturing, sales and supply of illicit drugs and NPS [legal highs]’.
The documents state: ‘One trend is the establishment of clandestine or illegal synthetic drug laborato‘being ries with the goal of supplying controlled drugs to the illicit market.
‘Serious organised crime groups in the UK are becoming more experienced at processes such as tableting and adulteration.
‘With more chemicals being produced in China and Eastern Europe, it is becoming increasingly attractive for criminals to purchase the chemicals required to produce the precursors and end product synthetic controlled drug.
‘The dangers posed to the public by the chemicals, gases and electricity present within these unregulated laboratories is significant.’
An NPS officer ‘recently attended a course at the International Training Centre on Combating Clandestine Laboratories in Poland’.
This resulted in Police Scotland better equipped to mitigate these dangers and capture any associated evidence’.
In the hit US television show Breaking Bad, a covert hi-tech crystal meth lab is located under an industrial laundry business in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Detective Chief Superintendent Sean Scott said: ‘Spice is a street name given to synthetic cannabis products. Synthetic cannabis was present in Scotland for a number of years, often sold in commercialstyle packets, before the Substances Act 2016.
‘At present we are not experiencing the same issues as those being faced by forces in England.
‘But we are not complacent. Police Scotland will continue to work with partners, gather intelligence and monitor emerging trends to ensure we are suitably prepared to deal with any identified risk.
‘This includes ensuring our officers and staff receive the most current training to equip them to deal with emerging threats. We remain committed to keeping our communities safe and actively target those individuals involved in serious and organised crime.
‘It is an offence to be involved in the sale, supply and production of synthetic cannabis. Through partnership working and with the support of local communities, we aim to make Scotland a safer place.’
Official statistics show deaths involving ‘legal highs’ have more than tripled in a year – and now average almost one a day, with numbers of deaths rising sharply from 112 in 2015 to 346 last year.
‘Dangers posed to the public’