Scotland as the ‘drug death capital of Europe‘ is a narrative that much excites MSM here. Despite some reductions, the level remains stubbornly high but a significant factor in that – increasing supply of stronger drugs into smaller towns – is not considered, because that supply flows explicitly from England.
In a documentary made for BBC Scotland and BBC 2 by independent film makers, Firecrest, broadcast in September 2024, there’s an explicit linking of drug deaths in Inverness to the extreme violence (see weapons found) and supply of Class A drugs by explicitly ‘English’ county lines gangs from London.
Here is an extract:
One of the things we’ve seen emerging over the last few years is the increase of county lines drug gangs. Drug dealers in the major cities export their drugs into smaller communities for greater profit. The consequences of the drugs coming into this are quite simple and stark and that’s people are dying from drugs overdoses. Fighting this war on drugs in the Highlands is a team of detectives based in Inverness. Today, they are executing a major operation against dealers in the city.
The job that we’re going to this morning is involving a London-based crime group that supply Class A crack cocaine and heroin into Inverness.
English-based groups are increasing their area of work well into Scotland now, and now their reach is as far as the highlands. It’s al about money. They don’t care about the heavy and significant community impact that Class A drugs has not only on the addict themselves, but on their immediate family. They don’t care about the age of the addicts they supply to. These can be young children from 13, 14 years old.
When the London group came up the level of violence and intimidation that they offered was increased significantly.
Remarkably, the above dramatic events were never covered by BBC News, Scotland or Highland, in broadcasts or on their websites. BBC Scotland has only twice ever mentioned county lines gangs, in 2019 and 2021.
Also, remarkable, BBC Scotland’s Disclosure series has never investigated this blight.
Imagine drug gangs explicitly from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee were spreading their activity into small town England, using weapons and triggering a drug death surge in places where local efforts to reduce them had been showing some progress? Would BBC England ignore the events and/or conceal the Scots origins of the gangs?
There is a clear editorial agenda here at BBC Scotland, to protect the Union and this independent production has bypassed the editorial control of news broadcasts.
This is by no means a new phenomenon.
In 2017, BBC Scotland Highlands and Islands, when the ‘county lines’ label was less familiar, had:
Terence Hodson, 32, was jailed for four years and nine months, Joseph Waters, 20, for three years nine months and Thomas McKay, 31, was sentenced to three years after admitting to charges of supplying drugs.
The four were arrested as part of a police surveillance campaign called Operation Dorena which targeted dealers in the north west of England sending drugs to Scotland.
In 2017, not only was ‘County Lines’ a new concept but so was ‘cuckooing’ – when drug gangs take over the home of a vulnerable person through violence and intimidation, using it as their base for selling/manufacturing drugs.
Might that have further exacerbated Scotland’s high drug death rate?
Drug deaths in Highland have continued to climb, despite a national decline, from 33 in 2020 to 42 in 2022.
Surge in violent crime?
Elgin in Moray – from 90 cases in 2018 to 176 in 2022, a 96% increase.
Inverness in Highland – from 88 cases in 2018 to 326 in 2022, a 270% increase.
Consider the contrast with large urban areas such as Glasgow which only saw a 6% increase in crimes of violence [1 563 to 1 651] to illustrate the appalling consequences of the County Lines gang penetration of small town Scotland.
Sources:
https://datamap-scotland.co.uk/scotland-reported-crime-data/moray-council-ward-crime-map/
https://datamap-scotland.co.uk/scotland-reported-crime-data/highland-council-ward-crime-map/
https://datamap-scotland.co.uk/scotland-reported-crime-data/glasgow-city-council-wards-crime-map/
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Hi John,
You may be interested in this article, from 25th May 2023, which also includes a link to the full report.
“Among the types of Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) the majority of research relating to CCE in the UK focuses on county lines, therefore a greater level of detail has been provided on this type of CCE compared to other types of CCE.”
The detail relating to “county lines” begins on page 12.
https://www.cycj.org.uk/news/cycj-publishes-scoping-review-of-child-criminal-exploitation/
“This research seeks to establish a baseline understanding of the nature, scale and extent of Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) in Scotland.”
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Hi cs
Many thanks for this.
Will check out.
John
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I noticed this morning, a rather excited Conner Gillies of Sky News highlighting the delay in opening a safe consumption room is Glasgow the “Drugs Capital of Europe” and how this was Scotland’s shame.
What happened to the Ferries then? Did I miss something?
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Well that’s how BBC Scotland operate .
Omission being just as important as misinformation in the ‘News where you are”.
However they are not alone in bad reporting.
I noted online, via Twitter, a headline in yesterday’s ‘Sunday Post’
“Investigation into SNP finances drags on as experts say the Police need 1000 more officers” and under this headline they also state “just 30 specialists available to tackle £20 billion crimewave“.
You would be forgiven in thinking that all of the above in that headline and also what was written underneath it was all pertaining to the Police investigation into the SNP finances.
However if you read the content of the story underneath you will see the ‘extra’ officers and the “£20 billion crimewave” are in relation to serious and organised crime specialist officers.
So the SNP are now to be considered the same as ‘gangsters’ of ‘organised crime’ who are part of a “crimewave”.
The power of suggestion is strong with this article from ‘The Sunday Post’ .
I mean it strongly smells as if this is yet another ‘trial by media’ attempt against the SNP where they , as a media, have defined this investigation into the SNP as a clear cut case of ‘serious and organised crime’ needing to be investigated by officers who investigate ‘serious crime’.
Yet they, The Sunday Post, are also saying the “investigation” is dragging on so, as an investigation into the SNP, this is far from finalised in respect to any conclusion being reached on it’s outcome.
It also looks as if this is yet another excuse , by the media, to resuscitate the whole story of this Police investigation into the SNP as they also included with this article a picture of the motorhome with information that includes it’s cost, where it was seized from and that it was seized by the police as part of their investigation into the SNP.
UK media pretending to be Scottish with hollow laughs all round.
This story is really more to do with the media playing politics against the SNP that also includes, what is now seemingly a compulsory factor in all reports and articles linked to #SNPBAD stories , that is the media always including a quote from someone from an opposition party.
This time it was Tory MSP Liam Kerr, where he stated “the SNP’s savage and sustained cuts to Police budgets left our overstretched officers having to do more with less” .
Obviously he, Kerr, has no sense of feeling any hypocrisy in saying this considering that his own Tory party, as UK government, slashed Police budgets in England from 2010 onwards leading to a reduction of 20,000 Police officers there.
I guess it was ‘The Sunday’s Posts’ turn, as media, to try to remind the public in Scotland of #SNPBAD and they were aided , as per, by someone from an opposition party ,who as per , was given a media platform to try to ‘stick the boot into the SNP’ in them also repeating (as per) #SNPBAD.
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Noted today via the excellent MSM Monitor Twitter account:
“During the general election campaign Anas Sarwar promised a new Labour Govt would step in and save all of the jobs at Grangemouth. It was a lie. He’s yet to be challenged on the lie”
Then MSM included a video with his tweet , where in the STV leaders debate in Scotland , Colin Mackay mentions Grangemouth Refinery and specifically asks Sarwar “would you step in to save it” ?
Sarwar responds “We would step in to save the jobs of the Refinery and invest in that transition by making an energy transition hub at Grangemouth and we’d put hundreds of millions of pounds behind it to make it a reality to protect these jobs and build Grangemouth for the future”.
Of course we all now know what the reality and position is with Grangemouth post the GE.
Fast forward to September 2024 with news that:
“Scotland’s only oil refinery confirmed to close next year”.
The BBC reported on their website in September 2024 that:
“Workers said the announcement was a “kick in the teeth” while unions labelled it a “terrible indictment” of both governments and of the company.
“Both governments” ???
(As there can be no show without the UK media’s political punchbag, as in the SNP , even when clearly with this situation the blame lies with the UK government and not with the Scottish one)
Yet how come Anas Sarwar’s pledge in the STV Scottish leaders debate was not noted as being a “kick in the teeth” and a “terrible indictment” via what he , Sarwar, promised before the GE would happen via a new Labour UK government with Grangemouth’s future and then it did not happen as he promised it would.
The opposite happened.
Strangely in this BBC article on the closure of Grangemouth the only reference via Anas Sarwar was in them quoting Sarwar saying “the news was “a deeply disappointing decision” ( in other words the BBC chose to omit what he formerly pledged his party, as UK government , would do for Grangemouth if they won the UK GE).
Mind you neither did any of the Union reps quoted in this article note Sarwar’s promise that he made , pre the GE, on Grangemouth’s future with his UK party as the new UK government.
What is it that many of us often say about Labour and also about Anas Sarwar ?
That is that they, Labour and also Anas Sarwar, will say anything , even lie, to try and get votes/seats from the SNP in Scotland in any elections , including the last UK one.
As when, Labour, did undeservedly gain seats from the SNP in the recent UK GE then the proof that Sarwar was lying was in the opposite happening in respect to what he promised would happen with Grangemouth.
However Sarwar , once again, is not being held to account by the media for his lies in him promising so much , pre the GE , on what he said would be Grangemouth’s future but only via Labour UK apparently?
That’s not happening is it !
Ans now we see that all of the media (and Trade Union Reps) in Scotland have blanked out Sarwar’s former pledges (lies ) he made in relation to Grangemouth’s supposed ‘guaranteed’ future with his UK party as the new UK government.
Indeed Grangemouth being one of many excellent examples of this as a recurring situation with both the Labour party , the media and Trade Union Reps in Scotland.
Thanks to MSM Monitor retaining a video on this where the words (promises) ‘came straight from the proverbial Horse’s (Sarwar’s) mouth’ Ha Ha (Caught out again).
Hopefully some of those in Scotland who voted Labour in the recent GE and who perhaps also watched that Scottish leaders debate on STV may now finally be able to add two and two and get four , and not get the usual five , as in how they , as voters, must see Labour if they decided to once again vote for them in the recent GE!
I say “hopefully” they as voters will learn as we all know the media in Scotland are hardly going to try and make any concerted to either remind them of this (Sarwar’s lies) or indeed , as a media, try to doorstep Sarwar and challenge him upon it.
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