Police Scotland arrested 36 people, found 14 cannabis-growing operations and searched or checked 47 addresses across Scotland in an operation targeting a Vietnamese crime group. The force alleges human-trafficking links and will assess whether any detainees are victims.
About 300 officers took part in simultaneous early-morning raids across nine Scottish areas; arrests were also made in Birmingham. Police Scotland also alleges the group was involved in drug production, fraud, money laundering and organised immigration crime. Home Office Immigration Enforcement and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs supported the operation.
Police Scotland says its inquiries began after Vietnamese criminals were connected to 150 cannabis farms discovered in Scotland last year. Around 120 people were arrested and drugs worth £26m seized; subsequent inquiries linked the group to about a third of those farms.
