Apollo 999
Space-age kit beats crooks’ phone-block technology
Detectives are using Nasa technology in the war against organised crime in Scotland.
The latest in GPS, which was adapted for use on missions by the US space agency, helps police track suspects using sim cards.
The switch came after it emerged organised crime gangs were using counter-surveillance equipment to block efforts to track them.
Nasa gear is being used in Operation Engagement, a long-term probe into organised crime in and around Glasgow. Its main focus in the last year has been the feud between members of the Lyons and Daniel crime clans, which has seen a spate of shootings and attacks.
Detective Superintendent Kenny Graham, head of Operation Engagement, said: “Police Scotland utilise a number of tools and techniques to investigate and pursue those involved in serious and organised crime. We continually look for new and innovative ways to tackle the threat posed by organised crime groups.
“Technology is a key part of that.”
It comes after nine men – Mark Richardson, Mar tyn Fitzsimmons, David Sell, Anthony Woods, Gerard Docherty, Steven McArdle, Francis Mulligan, Michael Bowman and Barry O’Neill – were sentenced to a total of 87 years in January for flooding the UK with guns and cocaine.
They had bought US countersurveillance devices worth up to £25,000 each to block police radio and mobile phone signals. One machine could jam signals within a 100-metre radius of where the gang were operating. This year we revealed how criminals are using car-tracking devices to stalk rivals then attack them. Underworld figure Euan Johnston was tracked by rivals before he was shot dead in his car in Glasgow in November 2016. David Scott, 33, was jailed for at least 22 years. Under Operation Engagement, more than 30 major gangland figures have been arrested, 50 stolen cars found and about 300 mobile phones seized. NASA said: “We’ve developed technologies that keep our astronauts, vehicles, and equipment safe. Many of these have found secondary applications to protect law enforcement officers and help them perform their jobs more effectively.”