Operation Venetic: More than 50 arrests in 'unprecedented' crime raids

More than 50 people have been arrested in Scotland as part of a major UK-wide operation which has dismantled several organised crime gangs.

Police Scotland, the National Crime Agency (NCA) and forces across the UK also recovered huge amounts of drugs, cash, firearms and grenades.

The arrests were made after the NCA penetrated a secret communications system used by criminals.

The operation was said to have been "unprecedented" in scale and success.

The Scottish arm of Operation Venetic, which involved hundreds of police officers, saw a total of 59 people arrested.

Cocaine, heroin, cannabis, herbal cannabis and thousands of Etizolam tablets - also known as fake valium - worth £25m were recovered, along with £7m of laundered cash and a number of firearms, ammunition, explosives and industrial pill presses.

Six stolen cars and a stolen motorcycle were also recovered.

• Hundreds arrested as crime comms system cracked

One raid in Kent led to the seizure of 28 million fake valium tablets that were destined for Scotland, while the operation also led to significant drug recoveries on the M74.

The operation came after Encrochat - a secure mobile phone instant messaging service used exclusively by criminals worldwide - was cracked by an international law enforcement team.

In Scotland alone, it generated 50 search warrants across the country.

"Iconic" crime figures were among a total of 746 arrests made across Europe after messages on EncroChat were intercepted and decoded, with more than two tonnes of drugs, several dozen guns and £54m in cash being seized.

These bundles of notes were among the £7m in cash seized by officers in Scotland

An estimated 60,000 people, among them up to 10,000 in Britain, subscribe to Encrochat, which the NCA said was used as a "criminal marketplace" to co-ordinate the supply of drugs across the world, and import weapons including assault rifles, sub-machine guns, shotguns, pistols and hand grenades.

Gangs are also believed to use the handheld devices to plot attacks on rival groups, plan ways of enforcing drug debts and arrange for money to be laundered.

Assistant Chief Constable Angela McLaren of Police Scotland hailed the significance of the operation, which was carried out during the Covid-19 lockdown.

She added: "These intelligence-led proactive operations, which have been undertaken in partnership with the NCA, UK police forces and Border Force, have resulted in some of the largest seizures made by the service.

"Keeping people safe and continuing to make the country a hostile environment for those who seek to bring misery to our communities through their organised criminality remains a priority for Police Scotland."

Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Angela McLaren and Gerry McLean of the NCA praised the success of the operation

Gerry McLean, the NCA's regional head of investigations for Scotland, said: "This piece of activity in Scotland and across the UK was unprecedented in scale.

"It is, without doubt, the broadest and deepest ever operation into serious organised crime, with the people targeted at the top end of the criminal tree."

He credited the strategy set by Scotland's Organised Crime Taskforce and a law enforcement partnership approach, which included input from the Crown Office, for the success of the operation.

Mr McLean added: "By working together we have had tremendous success in penetrating organised criminal networks, seizing huge amounts of criminal cash, stopping firearms and drugs reaching our streets and protecting the people of Scotland."

Drugs were found hidden in a van

Jennifer Harrower, procurator fiscal for specialist casework, said those involved would also be targeted through Serious Crime Prevention Orders and proceeds of crime legislation.

The M74, which connects England and Scotland, has been the source of much of the activity.

Other successes included:

• The recovery of 65kg of cocaine from an HGV at Hamilton Services on 28 May and the arrest of a 53 year-old man.

• On 19 May, 59kg of cocaine and £750,000 in cash were seized after a car and a van were pulled over on the A74, near Ecclefechan. Three men were arrested.

• Two men were arrested after 40kg of cocaine was recovered from a van which was stopped on the M74, near Lesmahagow, on 20 April.

• A 30-year-old man was arrested after a van was stopped on the M74 in Dumfries and Galloway and found to contain heroin with street value in excess of £380,000.

The operation also involved activity in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aviemore, Blantyre, Larkhall, Whitburn, Johnstone, East Kilbride, Clydebank, Coatbridge, Renfrewshire and North Lanarkshire.

Last year, the number of drug-related deaths in Scotland soared to 1,187, the highest since records began in 1996.

The country's drug death rate was nearly three times that of the UK as a whole, and is higher than that reported for any other EU country.