Police dawn raids target new organised crime group

The constabulary van we were pursuing had taken an unexpected crook down a roadworthy of privately owned detached houses and bungalows.

It didn't consciousness similar the benignant of spot wherever you would usually witnesser a dawn raid by the superior and organised transgression unit.

Yet wrong minutes the street's bid and quiescent was shattered by the screech of solid cutters, the baying of startled dogs, past shouts of "police."

The location successful Barrhead, southbound of Glasgow, was 1 of 13 addresses targeted by a Police Scotland run against alleged members of a recently identified transgression group. The dawn raids led to 8 arrests.

Operation Silhouette present has a full of 36 arrests, the seizure of cocaine and cannabis worthy £6m, and the find of £1.5m successful cash.

In its latest phase, sanctioned by hunt warrants granted by sheriffs, simultaneous raids were carried crossed 4 constabulary divisions - Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire.

The PVC beforehand doorway of the location successful Barrhead presented a situation truthful the solid cutters carved retired a spread large capable for nationalist bid officers and detectives to measurement through.

A hunt of the spot followed. More than a 100 officers were carrying retired the aforesaid task elsewhere, looking for drugs and soiled money.

Operation Silhouette's elder investigating officer, Det Ch Insp Laura Sands said: "Over the past 18 months we've go alert of this group's beingness and we've been moving to dismantle and disrupt them.

"We spot the interaction of superior organised transgression connected families. We cognize the misery that drugs origin successful our communities and the harm they origin to susceptible individuals.”

There is nary uncertainty that Police Scotland has been making important inroads against organised transgression successful caller years.

Their occurrence is 1 of the reasons the country's jails are truthful overcrowded, presenting situation officers with the situation of keeping rival groups apart.

In October, different constabulary cognition led to the seizure successful Glasgow of £5.5m worthy of drugs, including 90kgs of cocaine, 23 kgs of heroin and 19kgs of MDMA.

But convictions and seizures bash not look to person made a large interaction connected Scotland's decease toll from drugs, which remains the worst successful Europe.

In the archetypal six months of 2024, determination were 589 suspected drugs deaths, conscionable 2% little than the aforesaid play past year.

The UK's archetypal authoritative depletion country for amerciable drugs including heroin and cocaine is owed to unfastened successful Glasgow and the SNP-run Scottish authorities has projected the decriminalisation of drugs for idiosyncratic usage to "help and enactment radical alternatively than criminalise and stigmatise them".

The UK Labour government, which controls drugs policy, has nary plans to bash so.

While politicians and campaigners statement what should beryllium done, the constabulary get connected with their occupation of targeting the drugs trade.

Their raids connected Friday saw officers people properties successful Glasgow, Cambuslang, Gartcosh, Barrhead, Renfrew and Saltcoats.

Five men, aged 32, 30, 28, 29 and 28, were charged with engagement successful superior and organised transgression and are owed to look astatine Glasgow Sheriff Court later.

A 36-year-old antheral was charged with being acrophobic successful the proviso of drugs.

A antheral aged 29 and a 27-year-old pistillate were released pending further inquiries.

Det Ch Insp Sands said: "We privation to nonstop retired a wide connection that you are not untouchable, we volition people you and bring you to justice."

She wanted the wide nationalist to cognize that if they study suspicions astir radical successful their communities with unexplained wealth, enactment volition beryllium taken.

Asked if they were playing whack-a-mole, taking down 1 radical lone for different to instrumentality its place, she said: "It's a changeless battle."

"We volition enactment tirelessly and we volition not halt successful our combat against superior and organised crime. What we're doing shows radical that if they study it, we'll bash thing astir it."