County lines drug gang still a major issue for the Highlands according to police
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Drug gangs running product into the Highlands remains the top form of serious and organised crime affecting the Highlands, police have said.
Frontline officers are continuing to battle the problem of county lines - when organised crime groups from from major cities such as Birmingham, Derby, Liverpool and London expand their drug networks to other areas.
Often the expansion into areas such as the Highlands brings with it violence, exploitation and abuse.
This includes “cuckooing” when young or vulnerable people are targeted in their own homes in order to set up a local drug supply.
In an update to Highland Council due next week police are to highlight the ongoing problem as a major issue in the region
The Highland division has recently expanded its team of dedicated officers with the sole purpose of targetting
county lines offenders, working in partnership with partner agencies and protecting vulnerable persons.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Czerniakiewicz said: “The county lines method of drug dealing continues to be the main form of Serious Organised Crime affecting the Highland area of N Division.
“As a result of additional resources provided to the serious and organised crime team, we have focused our efforts on gathering intelligence that identifies those dealing harmful drugs in our area and taking enforcement action to disrupt and detect those responsible.
“Throughout the reporting period a number of protracted drug supply investigations have taken place with significant quantities of drugs, cash and weapons recovered.
“We continue to locate vulnerable youths and young adults from English counties in our area and return them to their serious and organised crime home territory where they can be suitably supported in order to reduce their exposure to potentially harmful behaviour.”
Police will tell councillors that the main drugs imported into the Highands for supply continue to be the
Class A drugs, namely, heroin and crack cocaine.
DCI Czerniakiewicz added: “We have also sought to remove Benzodiazepines from our communities following analytical work that identified the consumption of these drugs as being a contributory factor in a large number of drug related deaths. A number of search warrants have been executed with large quantities of tablets recovered.
“Violence related to serious organised crime has been recorded within the division including attempted murder, abduction, robbery and serious assault.
“A number of notable detections have been made and reports submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.
“Joint working with the Merseyside, South Yorkshire and Metropolitan Police forces has taken place throughout the year with information shared effectively to the benefit of all areas.
“These are the originating regions for the majority of the county lines gangs that try and establish themselves in the Highland area”.
