Serious Organised Crime Taskforce Progress Report 2025

Deter

The Deter strand aims to deter SOCGs by supporting private, public and third sector organisations to protect themselves and each other.

Rural Crime

In December 2024, a new initiative to tackle rural vehicle and equipment theft was introduced in Scotland and neighbouring English policing Constabularies.

Police Scotland provided farming communities with a specially designed, waterproof sticker that can be displayed on tractors, excavators, and other rural machinery, encouraging police to stop them to verify ownership and permitted use during set hours where the machinery is not routinely used by the owners. This will ensure anyone illegally in possession of the vehicle on the road network is more quickly identified and arrested.

Officers worked alongside colleagues from the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC) and Northumbria, Durham and Cumbria Constabularies, to design the sticker, which was offered to rural communities free of charge, either during engagement at their properties from local officers or when police attend agricultural events in local areas.

New approach to tackling fly-tipping

Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) is working more closely with local authorities to tackle Scotland's fly-tipping problem as part of the National Litter and Fly Tipping Strategy. SEPA’s ability to issue Variable Monetary Penalties (VMPs), at a higher level than civil penalties available to council officers, is a significant addition to the fight against fly-tippers in Scotland. The action in this area is important as disrupting and penalising these criminals is a deterrent to those that may escalate into more serious criminality and cause further environmental harm.

In recent months SEPA has imposed the following VMPs due to this new approach:

• a male in Paisley received a £2,642 VMP after being caught on CCTV fly tipping waste seven times over a two-month period.
• an individual from Glasgow was served with a £2,615.68 VMP for fly-tipping waste in Napier Terrace in Glasgow.
• a male in Glasgow received a £3,277 VMP for fly tipping waste in Kingarth Lane in Glasgow.

Human Trafficking – Victim Navigators

Two Scottish Government-funded Victim Navigators are based within Police Scotland’s National Human Trafficking Unit. Each Navigator has established strong working relationships within Police Scotland, including the development of information sharing processes and operational coordination. They have also forged links with other law enforcement partners including Border Force in Scotland (human trafficking leads), National Crime Agency (NCA) tactical advisers, as well as with key local partners including JustRight Scotland, Migrant Help and Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance. Navigators have also developed relationships with international stakeholders, including the French, Romanian and Indonesian embassies and Brazilian consulate.

Support is individually tailored to each survivor dependent on their specific needs and has included helping survivors to find safe and suitable employment, arranging access to appropriate accommodation, supporting survivors to enter the National Referral Mechanism, keeping survivors informed about the progress of the police investigation and prosecution of their exploiters and providing ongoing emotional support.

Navigators have worked on rolling multi-agency operations involving Police Scotland, Border Force, His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs and Home Office Immigration Enforcement, providing expert advice on victim identification and approach. Navigators have also assisted Border Force at Glasgow Airport with intensification exercises for Operation Aidant, coordinated by the NCA. This operation is run across the UK each year and involves local police forces working alongside partner agencies to focus on vulnerability, exploitation and modern slavery.

Re-launch of the Scottish Anti-Illicit Trade Group (SAITG)

The SAITG formally re-launched on 3 March 2025 and to mark the occasion, the SAITG committee organised a re-launch event. Over 70 people attended the event from law enforcement, public and private sector, and industry, coming together to network and share best practice with the overall aim of helping to tackle illicit crime.

The group brings together members including the Scotch Whisky Association, Police Scotland, Trading Standards, The Wine & Spirit Trade Association and The Anti-Counterfeiting Group, and will focus on developing best practice and enhancing collective strategies to tackle the supply of counterfeit goods across Scotland forming a co-ordinated response to protect Scottish products, businesses and consumers from the threat of intellectual property crime.

The group’s work will help build a greater understanding among the wider public of the harms this trade causes, emphasising that counterfeiting is anything but a victimless crime.

Shutting the door on scammers

North Lanarkshire Council’s Trading Standards team continues to lead proactive and collaborative work to disrupt and prevent doorstep crime and scam activity, often linked to SOCGs, through a range of enforcement, education, and safeguarding initiatives.

Working in close partnership with Police Scotland’s Lanarkshire Division, the team has successfully established 41 “No Cold Calling Zones” across all council retirement housing complexes and other hotspot areas. Over 150 TrueCall call-blocking units have been installed to protect vulnerable residents from scam and nuisance calls, with 43 installed in 2024 alone. These devices are estimated to have prevented over 320 scams and delivered £1.8 million in public savings. Recent joint operations led to the imprisonment of four prolific fraudsters, with further civil enforcement action ongoing.

Public engagement is central to the programme’s success, supported by campaigns like Shut Out Scammers and awareness visits to town centres and supermarkets. The council has also deployed video doorbells in high-risk cases and continues to receive referrals via national scam networks. Through its integrated, intelligence-led approach, Trading Standards is significantly improving community safety, reducing harm, and disrupting criminal operations targeting North Lanarkshire residents. These efforts have been recognised as a model of best practice in Scotland.