wmlro.com - "35 organised crime gangs operating in Lothian"
The Lothians are a nice part of the UK. But police there are shocked by the extent of organised crime present across the region.
Police say that they have identified assets amounting to some GBP10 million in an operation that began in April.
Operation Evolve has involved extensive intelligence gathering before operations were launched. 34 people have been arrested in recent days - but that's a small proportion of the number that are suspected of involvement in the drugs and other illicit trades carried on by the gangs.
The Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) has said in a report that there were 35 "serious organised" criminal gangs in the Lothian and Borders area.
The local police force has been given GBP500,000 from funds previously seized provided that the money is hypothecated to the tracing and confiscation of further criminal assets. A specialist team will be set up and will follow the money - including into businesses set up to launder the funds. That includes car hire companies, a favourite due to the reliance on cash.
The Lothian and Borders police have stolen a march on other police forces in Scotland: the Scottish government has introduced The Serious Organised Crime Task Force and LBP are the first to introduce a strategy under that Task Force.
Download PDF version of this page