Crimelords targeted as they run empires from inside jail cells

CRIME barons who continue to run their illegal operations from within the walls of Scotland’s jails are coming under increasing police surveillance.

The number of intelligence officers operating inside prisons has increased in recent months and more than 400 convicts are subject to intense scrutiny in a bid to prevent mobile phones and Sim cards being smuggled in for the benefit of the Mr Bigs of the underworld.

The move signals a new approach by the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) who are targeting offenders after they have been jailed.

Police estimate there are 4,400 criminals involved in organised crime in Scotland – 10 per cent of whom are behind bars.

The most dangerous 20 per cent of those continue to be involved in the highest level of criminal activities, sometimes orchestrating multi-million- pound drug deals.

Detective Inspector Martin MacLean, of the SCDEA, said: “It’s about stopping them continuing to organise their criminal activities from within prison using smuggled mobile phones.

“And it makes it more difficult for them to return to criminal activity on leaving prison.

“This offers a clear message to those involved in serious or organised crime – there is no safe haven for you.”

Detective Superintendent Tom Tague, of the SCDEA’s information unit, added: “Previously, when those involved in serious and organised crime went to prison, they fell off the law enforcement radar.

“Many continued to run criminal enterprises and returned to criminality when they left prison. We can’t afford to ignore the prison estate – what we do about organised crime and how we tackle career criminals.

“So, over the coming months, we will focus even more resources on criminal intelligence and do everything we can to get rid of serious and organised crime from our communities.”

The Scottish Prison Service is looking at introducing phone- blocking technology to stop use of the devices behind bars.

More than 1,000 mobiles are confiscated every year in Scottish jails. As well as being used to commit crimes on the outside, they are source of bullying inside, with some inmates ordered to look after them and take the blame if they are discovered.

Brigadier Hugh Monro, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons in Scotland, has made preventing the smuggling of mobiles into prison one of his priorities.

Tests have been carried out to see whether cloaking devices, or “jammers”, used in New Zealand, would affect signals of people living nearby.

The value to the police of successfully stopping these Mr Bigs was illustrated by the case of Robert Talbot, 33, in London, in March, who arranged for drugs and mobile phones to be smuggled into prison as well as co-ordinating the theft of cars worth £500,000.

For victims of crime, it provides hope that prison intelligence will stop violence, theft or drug smuggling. David Sinclair, of Victim Support Scotland, said: “For every crime, there is at least a single victim. For some crimes – such as drugs – there are many, many victims. It has a huge effect on victims and their families.”