The Sun, yesterday has the above, but holds back from identifying this as a problem deriving from the activity of county lines drugs gangs based in England.

I’ve been writing about this plague of extreme crime, at TuS for years now, shamelessly exploiting as fully as I can the political benefits of such a plague in making the case for independence. I make no bones about it. I’m biased like the Unionist media but unlike them I use reliable sources of evidence to make my case.

However, this time why don’t I hand over responsibility completely to a system that has no agenda on this, blinding speed and pretty good journalistic and researcher standards, compared to the MSM, built in – AI?

I have not changed a word of what follows:

Dear SuperGrok AI: ‘Are the gangs at the top level located outside of Scotland?‘

Yes, in the county lines model described in the Scottish Sun article (and consistently reported by Police Scotland and other sources), the higher-level or controlling gangs are typically based outside Scotland—most often in major English cities.Key evidence

• The article itself states that the gangs “shift drugs across national and district borders — such as from Manchester or Liverpool to Glasgow and Edinburgh — and then move them on to towns and villages across the country.” https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/16690683/kids-lured-gangs-cash-gifts-couriers-dealers/
• Police Scotland has repeatedly described Scotland as predominantly an importer of county lines (not an exporter to England/Wales). Merseyside (Liverpool area) is frequently identified as the single largest exporting area into Scotland. Other common sources include London, the West Midlands (e.g., Birmingham), Manchester, and occasionally other English hubs. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-50090140.amp
• Specific examples from recent reporting and operations:
  • Lines and groups linked to Liverpool/Merseyside (“Scouse” lines), London, and the West Midlands operating in the Highlands, Inverness, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, and elsewhere.
  • Joint operations between Police Scotland and forces such as Merseyside Police or the Metropolitan Police targeting controllers based in those English cities.
  • Drugs (heroin, crack cocaine, etc.) moved north, with local (often Scottish) vulnerable people or children used as lower-level runners, dealers, or for “cuckooing” (taking over homes).

Context and nuance

• Scotland has its own longstanding organised crime groups (especially in Glasgow and the West Coast) that dominate parts of the domestic drugs market and wholesale supply. Some of these have historical or ongoing links to English hubs (particularly Liverpool) for bulk supply.
• County lines specifically refers to the model in which urban-based organised crime groups (or street gangs) expand outward by establishing dedicated phone “lines” and using exploited people to deal in smaller or more rural markets. In Scotland’s case, the originating groups for these lines are overwhelmingly English-based.
• Local facilitators or mid-level actors in Scotland often assist, but the top-level control of the lines (phone lines, supply, direction, and much of the profit extraction) sits outside Scotland.

In short, while Scottish organised crime is heavily involved in the overall drugs trade, the particular “county lines” gangs recruiting and exploiting Scottish children as described in the article are characteristically controlled from outside Scotland, primarily from English cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, London, and Birmingham.

Does the Sun make that clear?

No, the Scottish Sun article does not make it fully or explicitly clear.It comes closest with this single sentence:

“The gangs shift drugs across national and district borders — such as from Manchester or Liverpool to Glasgow and Edinburgh — and then move them on to towns and villages across the country.”

That implies the drugs (and therefore the higher-level supply) originate outside Scotland, specifically citing English cities. However:

• It does not state outright that the top-level or controlling gangs are based outside Scotland.
• It does not explain the classic county-lines structure (urban English-based groups directing operations into Scotland while using local recruits as lower-level runners/dealers).
• Most of the article focuses on the Scottish end of the problem — the recruitment of local kids, the numbers flagged by Police Scotland, the impact on children and communities in Scotland, and quotes from Scottish-based experts, charities, and officers.

So a reader could reasonably take away that “gangs” are operating in and around Scotland and moving drugs around, without grasping that the directing/organising level of these particular county-lines networks is typically based in England. The article assumes some knowledge of how county lines work rather than spelling out the cross-border hierarchy.