North Lanarkshire cops' success in massive county crime swoop
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POLICE in North Lanarkshire have seized over £200,000 worth of drugs, 20 illegal firearms and arrested 25 people with alleged links to serious and organised crime groups (SOCGs).
This comes following the latest phase of the Break the Circle of Violence Campaign which turned the spotlight on Serious and Organised Crime.
A further 50 associates of SOCGs were reported for a total of 82 offences with restraint orders placed, aimed at recovering their assets, totalling £1.6million.
Serious organised crime is estimated to cost Scotland around £2 billion pounds a year and ranges from low level crime, such as counterfeit goods to serious crime, such as violence and intimidation and firearm offences.
In the last two months officers from the Division have targeted the criminals who pose a real danger to communities and whose illegal activities blight the lives of local residents.
This particular phase involved divisional officers, specialist units and partner agencies working together in a number of targeted operations to disrupt and deter criminal networks causing significant harm within communities through their involvement in serious violence and crime. This has resulted in significant seizures and arrests.
The two month phase has resulted in:
£205,748 of drugs recovered.
20 illegal firearms recovered.
427 drug offences detected.
25 people arrested with alleged links to serious organised crime groups.
£1.6million of assets identified for restraint.
82 offences reported against members allegedly involved in serious and organised crime.
126 private security sites visited by officers.
691 Taxis checked, with seven licence offences and 51 other vehicle related offences detected.
Graham Cairns, Divisional Commander of North Lanarkshire Division, said: “This two-month campaign has focused our efforts on Serious and Organised Crime and I am delighted with the impact we have had during this short period of time.
“These individuals think nothing of using violence and intimidation to protect their operations and money and we are committed to doing all we can to bring down their criminal networks.
“We are acutely aware that people's lives are ruined by these serious organised crime groups who use people as a commodity and make lives miserable for local residents.
“We are determined to change that and improve the lives of decent law abiding citizens and we are not alone in our bid to achieve that. We are working closely with our partner agencies and the public, sharing information, resources and intelligence in stamping out this illegal activity.
“Despite this particular phase coming to an end, we will continue to do everything we can to disrupt and arrest these individuals. The officers of North Lanarkshire Division share my commitment and desire to making our communities a safer place to live and in the weeks and months ahead we will aim to build on the success of this campaign.”
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