Police seize almost £1.5m of cocaine in last nine months

Published on Monday 11 January 2010 08:38

COCAINE seizures are set to hit record levels in the Lothians in the wake of a blitz against organised crime gangs.

Police are on course to seize 2 million worth of the drug following a series of raids made possible by the work of undercover detectives. The latest seizure saw a half-kilo of cocaine worth 25,000 recovered from a property in Easter Warriston. Two men, aged 42 and 54, have been arrested in connection with the discovery.

The success follows the launch last September of Edinburgh's new Serious Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

Detective Superintendent Bruce Ormiston said: "The launch of our serious and organised crime strategy has given added impetus to our attempts to bring drug dealers to justice, and our successes over the past months are testament to the proactive approach we are taking towards this issue.

"Co-operation from the public is vital if we are to continue to build upon the good work that has already been done, and we would appeal to anyone with any information about drug dealers operating in their local community to contact us.

"Furthermore, our message to drug dealers is clear – if you continue to engage in this criminal activity, you will be caught and you will be brought to justice. It's as simple as that."

Police have seized nearly 1.5m worth of cocaine in the last nine months, which puts the force on course to beat its previous record haul of 1.8m of cocaine in 2008-9.

The overall amount of Class A drugs, which consists almost entirely of cocaine and heroin, is also expected to reach record levels following the confiscation of 2.1m worth in the last nine months, compared to 2.4m in the previous full year.

Seizures of illegal drugs in Lothian and Borders between April and June last year accounted for around a third of the Scottish total in that time. That included 350,000 of cocaine discovered in a Peugeot car near Ratho, which saw a 42-year-old man arrested over the find.

A police source said: "We were the top force in Scotland for the first quarter of the year in terms of our overall seizures, so obviously we made a really good start.

"We've had a very good year so far in terms of seizures of both cocaine and class A drugs in their entirety.

"It looks like we're on course for a record amount of seizures in both categories, and that's a tribute to the work that's been put in."

A report by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, published last year, pinpointed 35 serious organised crime gangs active in the force area.

A Scottish Government spokesman told the Evening News: "Drugs and the criminals who peddle them bring misery to our communities.

"We congratulate Lothian and Borders Police for their success in getting record amounts of cocaine off our streets."