Professor John Robertson OBA

It’s probably best to check my facts first so, with Grok AI:

Are there any media reports in 2025 of cocaine being smuggled from Scotland into England?

Based on a review of news sources from 2025, there are no media reports of cocaine being smuggled from Scotland into England. Most cocaine smuggling incidents reported involve drugs entering the UK from abroad (e.g., South America or Europe) via ports, sea drops, or airports, often landing in England first before potential distribution northward.

The other way?

Yes, there are media reports from 2025 detailing incidents of cocaine smuggling from England to Scotland, primarily via routes involving Northern Ireland as an entry point into the UK. These reports focus on seizures and investigations by agencies like the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Border Force, highlighting how drugs enter England (or UK ports) before being transported northward.

Are there any media reports in 2025 of XL Bully dogs being smuggled from Scotland into England?

No, there are no media reports from 2025 documenting instances of XL Bully dogs being smuggled from Scotland into England. The UK’s XL Bully restrictions—banning ownership without an exemption certificate, requiring muzzling and leashing in public, and prohibiting breeding or sale—apply uniformly across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland by early 2025, creating no incentive for such cross-border movement from Scotland southward. Earlier reports (primarily from late 2023 and 2024) focused on the opposite trend: owners transporting XL Bullies from England and Wales northward into Scotland to evade the initial ban there, before Scotland aligned its laws in February 2024.

The other way?

Yes, there are numerous media reports of XL Bully dogs being transported—often described as “smuggled” or “rushed”—from England (and Wales) into Scotland. This occurred primarily in late 2023 and early 2024, as owners sought to evade the UK’s breeding, selling, and rehoming ban that took effect on December 31, 2023, in England and Wales. Scotland initially delayed similar restrictions, leading to concerns about it becoming a “dumping ground” for the breed, which prompted the Scottish Government to introduce comparable safeguards by February 2024.

Just as I thought.

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