Task force targets 100 crime gangs
Police promise crackdown on 1800 mobsters
NEARLY 100 gangs and more than 1800 organised criminals are operating in the country, according to a report.
The Serious Organised Crime Taskforce has mapped out the scale of the country’s criminal underworld and pledged to bring down the thugs. The report found 61 per cent of gangs are based in the west of Scotland, with 21 per cent in the east and the remaining 18 per cent in the north. The Scottish Multi-Agency Strategic Threat Assessment, published yesterday, identified the growing threat posed by the mobsters. Along with involvement in drugs, human trafficking, immigration, fraud and money laundering, gangs are increasingly moving into cyber and environmental crimes.
Other revenue streams for crooks include the illicit puppy market and rogue trading.
The report identified 97 active organised crime groups in Scotland, comprising 1827 members.
Police chiefs say they are being “actively investigated” by “intelligence-led operational activity”. Top Scots gangland figures have been involved in alleged drug trafficking throughout the UK and in Europe, while some have built ties with cartels in South America.
Police Scotland’s Assistant Chief Constable Andy Freeburn, who is chair of the Scottish Multi-Agency Tasking and Delivery Board, said: “We aim to make Scotland a hostile and uncomfortable environment for organised criminals to operate and prevent them from preying on our communities.
“At every opportunity, our task force seeks to remove their influence and ill-gotten gains by making best use of our combined powers, skills and resources.”
The task force monitors the impact serious organised crime is having on Scots communities and seeks to identify emerging trends in their illegal activities.
Justice Secretary Keith Brown said cracking down on organised crime remained a “priority for the Scottish Government and members of Scotland’s Serious Organised Crime Taskforce”.
He added: “I want to see a Scotland where we all work together to reduce the harm caused by serious organised crime and a partnership approach is the right way to achieve that aim.”