Police dawn raids target new organised crime group

The police van we were following had taken an unexpected turn down a road of privately owned detached houses and bungalows.

It didn't feel like the kind of place where you would normally witness a dawn raid by the serious and organised crime unit.

Yet within minutes the street's peace and quiet was shattered by the screech of glass cutters, the baying of startled dogs, then shouts of "police."

The house in Barrhead, south of Glasgow, was one of 13 addresses targeted by a Police Scotland campaign against alleged members of a newly identified crime group. The dawn raids led to eight arrests.

Operation Silhouette now has a total of 36 arrests, the seizure of cocaine and cannabis worth £6m, and the discovery of £1.5m in cash.

In its latest phase, sanctioned by search warrants granted by sheriffs, simultaneous raids were carried across four police divisions - Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire.

The PVC front door of the house in Barrhead presented a challenge so the glass cutters carved out a hole big enough for public order officers and detectives to step through.

A search of the property followed. More than a hundred officers were carrying out the same task elsewhere, looking for drugs and dirty money.

Operation Silhouette's senior investigating officer, Det Ch Insp Laura Sands said: "Over the last 18 months we've become aware of this group's presence and we've been working to dismantle and disrupt them.

"We see the impact of serious organised crime on families. We know the misery that drugs cause in our communities and the harm they cause to vulnerable individuals.”

There is no doubt that Police Scotland has been making significant inroads against organised crime in recent years.

Their success is one of the reasons the country's jails are so overcrowded, presenting prison officers with the challenge of keeping rival groups apart.

In October, another police operation led to the seizure in Glasgow of £5.5m worth of drugs, including 90kgs of cocaine, 23 kgs of heroin and 19kgs of MDMA.

But convictions and seizures do not appear to have made a major impact on Scotland's death toll from drugs, which remains the worst in Europe.

In the first six months of 2024, there were 589 suspected drugs deaths, just 2% lower than the same period last year.

The UK's first official consumption room for illegal drugs including heroin and cocaine is due to open in Glasgow and the SNP-run Scottish government has proposed the decriminalisation of drugs for personal use to "help and support people rather than criminalise and stigmatise them".

The UK Labour government, which controls drugs policy, has no plans to do so.

While politicians and campaigners debate what should be done, the police get on with their job of targeting the drugs trade.

Their raids on Friday saw officers target properties in Glasgow, Cambuslang, Gartcosh, Barrhead, Renfrew and Saltcoats.

Five men, aged 32, 30, 28, 29 and 28, were charged with involvement in serious and organised crime and are due to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court later.

A 36-year-old man was charged with being concerned in the supply of drugs.

A man aged 29 and a 27-year-old woman were released pending further inquiries.

Det Ch Insp Sands said: "We want to send out a clear message that you are not untouchable, we will target you and bring you to justice."

She wanted the general public to know that if they report suspicions about people in their communities with unexplained wealth, action will be taken.

Asked if they were playing whack-a-mole, taking down one group only for another to take its place, she said: "It's a constant battle."

"We will work tirelessly and we will not stop in our fight against serious and organised crime. What we're doing shows people that if they report it, we'll do something about it."