‘Crime gangs

A young father- of- two is shot several times in the head as he sits at traffic lights after a meal out with a pal.

And a gangland hardman drives himself six miles to hospital – after being stabbed and set on fire in a brutal attack in a derelict house.

These aren’t scenes from the Chicago heyday of Al Capone, or the streets of Bogota where drug gangs battle for supremacy.

Instead, they all took place in Scotland within the last year – and all fall under the banner “gang-related”.

Organised criminals are running amok in our cities, and as someone who has been a crime reporter for 40 years, has written several books and has appeared on TV and radio, I can honestly say things are as bad as I can remember.

Think organised crime doesn’t affect you? Think again.

The rackets run by the so- called Mr Bigs affect every part of our lives.

If you’ve recently received a call from someone claiming to be from your bank who just needs “a few details” because they’ve spotted suspicious activity on your account, chances are it’s them.

Why are you asked to shield your PIN at cash points these days?

Because the ne’er- do- wells behind the mayhem we think doesn’t encroach on our lives have probably fitted minicameras to the ATMs so they can steal your money.

In the past taxi operators and tanning salons were all linked to attempts to launder ill-gotten gains.

And it’s no surprise most of that illicit cash comes from the sale of drugs, which arrive in Scotland via a multitude of routes.

Once drugs take hold of an area, everything suffers. It’s a tableau of tragedy, treachery and violence being played out in a street near you right now, no matter what you may think.

Nowhere in Scotland is that more apparent than Glasgow – the “Dear Green Place”, a former European Capital of Culture, host to the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and now home to a shadowy illicit gang war.

Our exclusive crime map details just some of the dizzying array of crimes that have exploded on to the city’s streets recently.

One police officer – a detective inspector of some years’ standing – admits it can sometimes appear they are losing the fight against the crime gangs.

But he says “we’ve still had some notable victories against them”, adding: “We don’t turn a blind eye to any sort of crime.

“Some people probably think we’re OK to let the criminals sort matters out among themselves because it’s ‘targeted crime’ and because one less gangster is one less gangster to worry about.

“But that’s not the case. We know that organised crime has a wider social impact.

“When gangster Kevin Carroll was shot and killed in the car park of a Glasgow Asda supermarket a number of years ago, that was witnessed by, and scared, a lot of normal ordinary people.

“We get that we can’t have people running around like it’s 1930s Chicago shooting each other.

“But, by their very nature, such cases are complex and difficult to investigate and solve. The amount of police work that goes into them is incredible.”

Even when people get lifted they’re often bailed by courts, leaving them back out on the streets looking for revenge.

And that in itself can inspire a fresh wave of bloody retribution.

What makes the situation even more dangerous is the ease with which criminals are able to get their hands on guns.

My sources all agree that a plentiful supply of weaponry is readily available, mainly from serving and former members of the Army.

In several cases guns are being easily smuggled past lax security checks and