That it’s like an escalation of behaviour. It’s getting to the point now in the Inverness area, where the violence is getting to a different level and it’s something that really we’re taking a really firm stance on. But we’re also very conscious it’s very challenging.

Highland Cops commissioned by BBC 2 and BBC Scotland and produced by Firecrest Films is in its fourth series of frankly fascinating documentary style episodes on crime in the Scottish Highlands, with ravishing background, often foreground, scenery shots and increasingly impressive and likeable police officer characters.

The production seems to have wriggled out from under the oppressive editorial control in Glasgow where the suggestion the the street-level, illegal drug trade with its plague of associated, often extreme, violence is the consequence of the vicious County Lines gang business model rooted in large cities in England.

Highland Cops, on a regular basis, has exposed the above truth in a way that BBC Reporting Scotland determinedly hides from its audience. In an earlier episode (4.1) we saw a brutal murder of an Inverness man by a gang member from Liverpool. In previous series, Liverpool has been repeatedly mentioned by officers as the source of the trade and the swelling violence in the city.

An attempted murder in Series 3 a sword-attacker in the streets shouts something about ‘Scousers.’

‘Scouse’ drug gang members, a Liverpool gang, ‘Scouse Dave‘. There are multiple Liverpool county lines gangs operating in Inverness.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00344lh/highland-cops-series-4-3-the-machete-raid

Returning to the opening comments by the Acting Chief Superintendent: That it’s like an escalation of behaviour. It’s getting to the point now in the Inverness area, where the violence is getting to a different level and it’s something that really we’re taking a really firm stance on. But we’re also very conscious it’s very challenging.

What’s the evidence? From DataMap:

Sexual crimes up 12% in Scotland¹ but up 5 times that in Highland and non-sexual crimes of violence in Scotland overall, also up 12% in the same period, but in Highland region, up more than 270%!

When are the first reports of County Lines gangs operating in Highland Scotland?

In the autumn of 2018.

Who agrees with us that it’s entirely an English curse?

County Lines – National Police Chiefs’ Council confirms exports of deadly drugs and violence FROM England INTO Scotland: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2026/05/14/county-lines-national-police-chiefs-council-confirms-exports-of-deadly-drugs-and-violence-from-england-into-scotland/

Do we have reason to fear Liverpool gangs?

What can we do? Regulars here will know. The only way out is out.

Sources:

1. https://datamap-scotland.co.uk/scotland-reported-crime-data/highland-council-ward-crime-map/
2. https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-year-ending-june-2025/documents/