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Professor John Robertson OBA

Thanks to Graham for alerting me to the above in the P&J today, and:

Man caught with class-A drugs in Aberdeen gets locked up – Dawood Mahmood, from Sheffield, had cocaine and diamorphine worth more than £5,000 at a flat he was using in the city.

From Graham:

Yet another FEB drug dealer taken off our streets, kudos to the P&J for reporting on these cases as no one else does.

Indeed. only the P&J has reported this.

Mahmood is not new to the game. In November 2024:

A Sheffield dealer left the country and started a new life abroad, after being caught with ‘large’ quantities of Class A and B drugs with an estimated street value of over £10,000.

Dawood Mahmood was snared and arrested by police, after officers were originally called out over concerns for the welfare of a person living at a city flat block. 

Sheffield Crown Court heard how Mahmood, of Gleadless Road, Gleadless, Sheffiield, was subsequently searched after being seen exiting the flat, into the adjoining stairwell. 

^{https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/crime/dealer-left-country-for-years-after-being-found-with-ps10k-of-crack-heroin-cannabis-4863570}

Other tabloids too have reported this. In December 2024:

‘County Lines crackdown after cops smash English gang moving drugs to Aberdeen’

That’s the Express headline above. BBC Scotland‘s website has no coverage, concentrating on whether police officers can be bearded but in the BBC Breakfast insert this morning they did say ‘County Lines‘ for the first time.

That’s progress I suppose.

The Express also has:

Separately, six groups involved in county lines drugs and organised crime in Aberdeen have been targeted by police since June in a joint operation with the Met Police in London.

Class A drugs, including crack cocaine and heroin, were being moved between London, Liverpool and Hertfordshire to addresses in Aberdeen, prompting 63 arrests in connection with drug offences, after 38 warrants were issued between September and November.

In London, officers from Police Scotland and the Met arrested a 34-year-old woman and two men, aged 39 and 68. Drugs with an estimated street value of more than £207,000, and a significant sum of cash were seized. _{https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/county-lines-crackdown-after-cops-34258612}

Try replacing, in the above text, London with Glasgow, Liverpool with Dundee and Hertfordshire with Lanarkshire, and imagine the MSM response. It’s easy.

Imagine Nigel Farage on Question Time, ranting against the Scots and calling for border restrictions.

Imagine Scottish Labour blaming the SNP for these gangs.

Also, today, here’s what the National Police Chief’s Council has to say:

Policing continues to disrupt and dismantle County Lines networks across England and Wales. However, County Lines drug dealing continues to be linked with the most serious violence, demonstrated through the horrific weapons seized across the week, where we saw 557 weapons seized, which included 75 firearms, 377 bladed weapons, 105 other weapons like knuckledusters, nun chucks and hammers.

“This is why we continue to focus on a prevention-first approach to tackling County Lines, with over 1,400 people safeguarded during the week, of which 48% were children. Stopping people being drawn in, whilst working to prepare communities for the impact of County Lines is vital. Protecting children and vulnerable adults, safeguarding them from harm, along with relentlessly pursuing offenders remains one of our key priorities. _{https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/over-500-weapons-seized-and-1-400-vulnerable-people-safeguarded-during-crackdown-of-county-line-drug-dealers}

The word ‘Scotland’ does not appear in the above because there are no drug gangs like this based in Scotland.

Police Scotland‘s News site, strangely in the light of the media coverage, has no mention of a campaign in which their officers are heavily involved, across Scotland.

https://www.scotland.police.uk/what-s-happening/news/

Earlier this week BBC Scotland did report on raids on ‘a new organised crime group’ but seemed unable to name them and have not yet done so.

Watch the full Reporting Scotland coverage later today and see if they can bring themselves to mention where these gangs come from.

They could get the BBC Scotland Disclosure Team on this but I guess they’re too busy with the shortage of Pan Drops in care homes and the Scottish Government’s failure to ensure a steady supply.