Police in Scotland seized thousands of pounds worth of drugs and cash in a week-long crackdown on county lines gangs who exploit vulnerable people and children.
The operation discovered 64 addresses believed to be used for the purposes of cuckooing - where a vulnerable person's house is taken over by drug dealers.
A total of 29 vulnerable people were also identified during the national intensification week, co-ordinated by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) last week.
Police Scotland’s Assistant Chief Constable Pat Campbell said the gangs bring violence to our communities.
She said: "County Lines gangs are not welcome in Scotland.
"They groom and exploit the most vulnerable people in our communities including children and young people.
"People are intimidated, coerced, threatened and force into storing or selling drugs.”
The UK-wide week of activity targeting County Lines also 20 people arrested and controlled drugs - heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and cannabis with an estimated street value of £40,000 - were seized.
Over £20,000 in cash was recovered, as well as offensive weapons, including a Taser and two machetes.
A number of mobile phones, a laptop and almost £500 of counterfeit cash, were found in the haul.
County Lines gangs are known to use the postal system to transport drugs, and during the week of activity a number of post offices in Police Scotland’s Highlands and Islands Division were visited by the Dog Unit.
In Dingwall, a package containing high-purity cocaine, with a street value of more than £25,000, was intercepted.
A subsequent search of a property in Simpson Place in the town saw cannabis worth around £40,000 being recovered. A 32-year-old man was arrested and enquiries are ongoing.
Assistant Chief Constable Campbell added: "Our officers remain absolutely committed to working with our partners to reduce the exploitation of vulnerable people and safeguard individuals who may be at risk, and pursue offenders.
“Together we will provide support to those targeted by unscrupulous criminals, to reduce ongoing risk and enable recovery; and we will continue to make Scotland a hostile environment to those who seek to engage in criminal activity.
"The positive results during the day of action are an example of this work which will continue in support of the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy and the Drug Harm Reduction Strategy.
“As ever, I would urge anyone with concerns to report them to Police Scotland or alternatively to Crime stoppers anonymously.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here