Amid fears that the one-time ‘designer drug’ cocaine is becoming increasingly common in the pubs and clubs of Angus, senior police officers have vowed to continue to take the fight to every level of the supply chain.
A 45% dip in the detection of drugs supply, production and cultivation is one of the headline figures reported as part of the landmark first operational update since the beginning of a new Police Scotland era.
Senior officers admitted any drop was disappointing, but they believe communities like Angus will see the benefit of Police Scotland’s objective to go after the top-end organised crime figures.
Carnoustie councillor Bill Bowles raised the cocaine issue with Tayside deputy divisional commander Jim Leslie and Angus commander Chief Inspector Gordon Milne in their report of the local policing area performance for April to July.
Mr Bowles said he was concerned about a “massive increase in the use of cocaine and I have heard of this going on in licensed premises in my own ward area”.
“This seems to have become a real serious issue and it’s a disappointment that it seems to be the prime area at the moment,” he added.
Superintendent Leslie said: “Drugs are a scourge that cuts across all areas.”
He highlighted to councillors a Police Scotland priority of hunting down serious organised crime groups, with “challenging” drugs recovery targets into seven-figure sums.
“What we are probably doing is more of a focus at the top level, but that said we are not taking our eye off the ball in terms of the day-to-day harm of drug abuse in our communities.
“You can push up the low-level detection relatively easily but that may have little impact on the overall problem,” added Mr Leslie.
He added that the introduction of Police Scotland had also brought a much stronger focus on licensed premises and on the specific drugs issue he highlighted the use of items such as cocaine wipes to aid detection.
On the serious organised crime issue, Mr Milne highlighted one Arbroath operation targeted at a specific group.
“Operation Shrug is focused specifically on the activities of an identified serious and organised crime group involved in the distribution of controlled drugs.
“We have had a team of officers working on this for the past two months and the intelligence we have had is that our activities are having an effect.
“The strategic aim of the operation is not simply to recover drugs and report where appropriate, but in the longer term to disrupt, and ultimately dismantle the group in order to halt their activities,” he added.
Arbroath is also earmarked to pilot the Tayside Intensive Support Service introduced in Perth earlier this year.
Scheduled to officially start in November, TISS will see a string of partner agencies attempt to identify persistent heroin users in an effort to turn around their chaotic lifestyles.
“If we can get 15 of the known individuals into the scheme in Arbroath we believe that will have a significant effect on the quality of life in Arbroath,” Mr Milne added.