More Scottish gangsters are being jailed

Published on 28/06/2007 13:27

JUSTICE Minister Kenny MacAskill today reported a huge rise in the number of crime bosses taken off Scotland's streets - including several "Mr Bigs" in the Lothians.

The Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency's annual report shows that 45 high level "kingpins" were arrested in 2006/07 - an increase of 73 per cent on the previous year's figure of 26.

The arrests included 19-year-old cocaine dealer Mark Richardson and his dad, also called Mark, from The Inch, who were jailed after police smashed an Edinburgh drugs ring last year.

Another "Mr Big" is David Martindale, 32, from Livingston, who admitted his part in a cocaine processing gang. He was jailed last November for six and a half years.

Mr MacAskill today said: "Organised crime causes misery to the people of Scotland. It undermines legitimate business, damages our economy and is a cancer on our communities. This government wants to send out a message to these gangsters around Scotland and further afield that there are no untouchables in our society."