Are runningg amok’
hidden in caches that even include graveyards and woodlands.
One source said: “Soldiers see these as a sort of pension pot. When their soldiering is over they can sell them. Some bring in drugs that they’ve got their hands on during overseas tours, but drugs are risky; sniffer dogs can root out drugs but not the smell of a gun on a soldier who spends most of his working life holding a weapon of some sort .
“Hoods who have no training in how to handle a weapon are running around with
David Leslie pistols and in at least one case a very sophisticated assault rifle. They go off into the hills or down to the Borders or even the north of Cumbria, fire a few shots at a tree and convince themselves they are skilled marksmen.”
In a 2014 repor t, then Home Secretary Theresa May said serious and organised crime costs the UK more than £24 billion a year, causing “untold misery in communities up and down the country”.
It is estimated there are more than 5500 criminal groups involved in the British crime scene with more than 36,000 people engaged in these activities. The Scottish Government – in a report last year – said Scotland had seen nearly 3000 arrests in just one year of people known to be involved in serious organised crime.
Scotland’s Serious Organised Crime Task Force ( SOCTF) also said almost £ 9m was taken from people and companies involved in crime. It added almost £ 7m- worth of fake cigarettes, clothing and cosmetics were seized.
And worryingly, the report said it believed there were 196 serious organised crime groups operating in Scotland.
Over two thirds operated in the west of Scotland, with 22% in the east and 11% in the north.
Most operated in drugs but were also involved in “emerging threats”, including cyber crime, human trafficking and fraud.
As criminals continue to evolve and become more threatening to our everyday way of life, it’s we as a society that need to change to counter their surge.
Our streets – and school gates – depend on it. ORGANISED crime isn’t just exploding on to our city streets – it’s also becoming bolder.
Experts say gangs have left small-scale shoplifting behind to focus on armed robberiesr and highvaluev smash and grabs.
Meanwhile, those behind the mayhem are often free to walk the streets.
Former MSP Graeme Pearson, who headed up the Serious Organised Crime Agency after a lifetime in the police, says serious criminals being released on bail saps the public’s confidence that cops can lock up the bad guys.
He said: “Some members of the public see these thugs walking about freely and it puts them off helping police in their investigations.
“They might have seen something but won’t have the same confidence to report it as if the thugs were locked up.
“By the very nature of their criminal behaviour, these guys aren’t planning for their future – they live life for the present.
“If that means exacting their revenge while on bail they have little concerns about doing so – or any innocents who are hurt in their path.”
Mr Pearson believes that while gangs traditionally financed their operations through localised shoplifting those days have gone.
He said: “They’ve got much bigger operating costs now and that means generating cash by other means.
“Gone are hitting Marks & Spencers with shoplifting sprees.
“In its place are armed robberies of busy jewellery shops where the public are at risk.”