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New Police Approach Taken to Handle Serious Crime Gangs

Police Scotland have launched a new way of tackling serious crime gangs in Scotland after new figures showed that the 230 gangs in Scotland are diversifying. 

According to Police Scotland although 65% of all gangs are involved in drug crimes, the number of gangs diversifying into other criminal activities such as tax evasion, environmental crime, cyber crime and other criminal acts.

The Scottish Government called for a “more sophisticated” approach when tackling crime after figures showed that at least 150 criminal gangs were using legitimate business to launder money. 

Multiple Layers of Crime

The figures from Police Scotland revealed that there are 232 serious organised crime groups operating in Scotland, consisting of around 3,700 individuals. According to the stats, 70% of them are located in the West of Scotland, 18% in the East and 12% in the North. Worryingly 44% of the criminals are involved in other parts of crime with many having an apparently legal front. 

Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, from Police Scotland, said: "Serious organised crime in Scotland has diversified into new areas of activity while retaining a significant grip on traditional markets such as drug importation and distribution.

"We are now seeing criminals engaged in sophisticated economic crimes, environmental crime, social engineering fraud - all in the name of profit and all under-pinned by violence and intimidation.

"Police Scotland and our partners in the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce are absolutely committed to doing all we can to keep people safe, to diminish the threat from serious organised crime and to allow our communities to exist free from the impact of such criminality."

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: "There's no place for serious organised crime in Scotland and I'm proud of the innovative approach we're taking to tackle it head-on, from the 'Mr Bigs' to the white-collar criminals exploiting our economy.

"However, it is clear to me that the time is now right to shift direction to become even more sophisticated in tackling emerging crime trends."

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