From the Shetland Times today:
A second one-off payment of £30,000 has been made to vital charity Dogs Against Drugs by the Scottish government. This will help the cash-strapped charity to detect illegal substances which are brought to the isles as well as continue its important educational classes to Shetland schools.
Who is bringing these illegal substances to the Shetlands? From the same source:
“I think that if we didn’t have Dogs Against Drugs, then we could be really vulnerable to exploitation from our county lines gangs,” Mr Sewell told this newspaper recently. If you look at Inverness, anyone who’s watched the Highland Cops programme will see the issues that Inverness is having at the minute with serious and organised crime. I don’t want that to come to Shetland.”
Where are all county lines gangs based?
The above graph makes clear the hard evidence that four major police forces in England have the evidence of a significant flow of drugs into Scotland by criminal groups in their areas. Notably, the reported presence of these gangs in 50 locations, from Thurso to Aberdeen and down to East Ayrshire, is not mapped in detail. There are 6 544 County Lines across the UK so around 650 in Scotland.
Contrary to the hopes and messaging of most Scottish media, this confirms that much of Scotland’s drug problems are at root a consequence of the activities of gangs based in English cities surging in the last 6 to 8 years and now evidence they’ve made it to the Northern Isles.
You see that reference to BBC Scotland’s outsourced production Highland Cops? See this for more:
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 