Serious Organised Crime Taskforce Progress Report 2025

Detect

The Detect strand aims to identify, detect and prosecute those involved in SOC.

Organised Crime Partnership Scotland

OCP Scotland is a collaborative unit of officers from the NCA and Police Scotland working together to tackle those involved in the highest levels of criminality, both in Scotland and abroad.

The OCP continues to see an increase in cannabis couriers arriving at Scottish airports as part of a wider rise in air passenger smugglers in to the UK. Cannabis is the biggest single drug in the UK and is increasingly being imported, typically from countries where cannabis is legal. SOCGs use smugglers so they can increase their profits when they sell their drugs on the UK markets, using a misconception that cannabis grown in countries where it is legal is better and more sophisticated than homegrown cannabis. The OCP works closely with Border Force in the UK and law enforcement partners in source countries to target criminals higher in the supply chain.

County Lines Intensification Week – November 2024

Between 25 November and 1 December 2024, officers across Scotland engaged in the intensification week with a focus on child exploitation. Throughout the week, officers safeguarded 66 vulnerable people and engaged with a further 3,200 people during high visibility patrols, awareness presentations, multi-agency events and hot spot area leaflet drops.

81 people were arrested for a variety of County Lines related offences, with 54 drug and evidential search warrants executed. Seizures included:

• £180,000 worth of Heroin
• £120,000 worth of Crack Cocaine
• £22,000 worth of Cocaine
• quantities of Cannabis, Herbal Cannabis and Cannabis edibles were also recovered as well as synthetic opioids, ketamine and mixing agents were discovered and more than £224,200 in cash
• offensive weapons including a machete, an axe, four lock knives, two bottles of corrosive substance and a can of pepper spray, were seized.

Officers in the North East of Scotland targeted six groups involved in County Lines in Aberdeen. Evidence gathered showed Class A drugs were being moved between London, Liverpool and Hertfordshire to addresses in Aberdeen.

The investigation also saw warrants being executed in London where officers from Police Scotland’s North East Division and the Metropolitan Police arrested a 34-year-old woman and two men, aged 39 and 68.

Environmental crime – partnership activity

The image provides an overview of activity undertaken by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and partners across the country.

From a national perspective, the map shows that the Scottish Environmental Protection Agencies work, which includes:

Engagement with partners on serious organised crime, digital interventions targeting unauthorised waste providers, scam share bulletin work with Trading Standards Scotland to warn consumers of the risk of unauthorised providers, intervention with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, engagement and training with local authorities, training and awareness raising with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and enforcement and prevention presentations delivered to partners across the country.

In the north west coast, there has been engagement with veterinary medicine directorate to highlight the suspected overuse of veterinary medicine on fish farms.

In Aberdeenshire, there was a proceeds of crime case settled for £60,000, which reflects avoided costs of running an authorised waste facility.

In Glasgow, there has been work with the local authority which led to the first fly-tipping penalty notice being issued and significant publicity on it.

In East Renfrewshire, a fly-tipping hotspot targeted through work with the local authority.

For both Glasgow and Renfrewshire, there has been work with Police Scotland, His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs and the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency to identify waste carrier offences on the A74. There has also been some work with the Multi-Agency Tasking and Delivery Board to help target an illegal waste site in Renfrewshire, with initial support from Police Scotland.

In Ayrshire, there has been a multi-agency incident response and a suspension notice issued for a battery recycling plant. There has been early intervention at waste sites whilst working with the two local authorities in Ayrshire and Police Scotland. Intelligence has been shared with the Traffic Commissioner to disrupt the activities of a rogue waste carrier.

In Lanarkshire, there has been early intervention at waste sites working with both local authorities and Police Scotland.

In Midlothian, there has been multi-agency work at an illegal waste site involving the council, Police Scotland, Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Water, Scottish Power and other partners.

In Forth Valley, there has been multi-agency days of action on the roads. Engagement has taken place with local authorities in the region to enhance information sharing on persistent fly-tippers. Falkirk Council Community event also warned consumers of the risk of unregistered waste collectors who advertise their services online.

At Cairnryan, there have been multi-agency interventions at the port, which included intelligence sharing and days of action with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and the UK Environmental Planning Agency.

The cross-border work included multi-agency engagement on waste crime via the Joint Unit for Waste Crime. Intelligence was also shared with the Traffic Commissioner to disrupt the activities of a non-compliant waste haulier.

SEPA continues to make use of vital partnerships, particularly on cross-border illegality, to carry out operational activity and share intelligence on emerging threats and trends to allow for the effective deployment of resources to tackle and disrupt activities.

Vulnerabilities at the Common Travel Area (CTA)

The CTA allows movement within minimal or non-existent borders controls between the UK, Republic of Ireland (RoI), and the Crown Dependencies (Isle of Man, Guernsey, and Jersey). The CTA is vulnerable to abuse by individuals involved in criminality, specifically members of SOCGs, and illegal immigration and extremists, who can evade border controls and exploit the ease of movement assisting their criminality or illegal travel.

Abuse of the CTA is multi-faceted, involving an array of wide-ranging themes and subsequently, impacts a host of victims worldwide. Typically, this involves, but not limited to, victims directly impacted by SOCGs, innocent members of the public impacted by terrorism, victims of illegal immigration/human trafficking and the UK Government. It is assessed as highly likely that the scale of offending at the CTA is greater than the known intelligence picture.

In Scotland, CTA abuse occurs predominantly at Loch Ryan and Cairnryan Seaports daily, in the form of immigration offences, drug, alcohol and tobacco seizures and on occasion, human trafficking. It is likely that the use of the CTA is principally used by suspected exploiters or potential victims of trafficking as a means of obstructing ongoing Police enquiries and obfuscating their movements. It is a realistic possibility that SOCGs involved in modern slavery and human trafficking are currently using, and will continue to use, the CTA as a method of transporting new victims undetected.

In December 2024, 14 Albanian males were identified in a hidden compartment of a cattle truck at Loch Ryan Seaport following their inbound travel from Belfast. The Irish male driver was arrested and charged with 14 facilitation offences and all 14 Albanian nationals were detained for removal back to Albania.

SOC Operations

Operation Silhouette

An intelligence led investigation into a SOCG involved in large-scale distribution and supply of class A and B drugs throughout Scotland.

During 2024-2025, 60 Search Warrants were executed which resulted in 33 arrests, 26 incidents, where approximately 370kg of controlled drugs, 1 Firearm, ammunition and over £1 million in cash and listed assets under POCA.

As a result of police intervention, finance company partners repossessed a high value vehicle causing disruption to a SOC nominal.

Operation Intensity

An intelligence led investigation into a SOCG involved in the sale and supply of Class A, B and C drugs throughout Scotland.

Since inception of this Operation in 2023, there have been significant successes disrupting the SOCG across Scotland with seizures and arrests in Argyll and West Dunbartonshire, Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Forth Valley, Greater Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Tayside, and Lothian and Scottish Borders.

In total there have been 100 arrests, 200kg of drugs seized, over £600,000 in cash recovered, 46 search warrants executed, 2 firearms seized, and 11 children safeguarded.

Engagement with DWP partners resulted in information sharing in relation to two SOCG nominals who were assessed to be in receipt of benefits while working, causing DWP to take appropriate action.

Operation Jyro

An intelligence investigation into a SOCG involved in human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of Romanian females in Scotland.

In December 2024, as a result of a significant investigation, officers arrested six people connected to the SOCG and charged them with offences under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015. All accused were refused bail and are currently remanded in custody pending trial. Seven potential victims of trafficking were safeguarded following this enforcement action.

Operation RORA

An investigation into an individual who was identified as selling large quantities of counterfeit goods both from a retail premise and online.

A day of action was undertaken between the local Trading Standards team and Police Scotland’s SOC Unit. The individual was arrested following the recovery of counterfeit goods with a retail value of more than £1 million. Officers from Trading Standards Scotland undertook post-arrest action that further identified both supplier and transit routes that were shared with enforcement colleagues in the North West of England.

SOC proceedings and convictions

One of the ways in which SOC offences can be prosecuted is using sections 28 to 31 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010. This legislation provides offences of:

• s.28 – involvement in SOC;
• s.29 – offences aggravated by connection with SOC;
• s.30 – directing SOC; and
• s.31 – failure to report SOC.

Source: Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

At point of extract, a substantial number of the charges reported are still awaiting a marking decision. COPFS has a live operational database and as more charges are progressed through the system, data will continue to be updated and is therefore subject to change.