POLICE COLUMN: Detective Chief Inspector Barry McDaid
As the Detective Chief Inspector for Lothians and Scottish Borders Division, this is my first column and I'm grateful to Chief Inspector McArthur-Kerr for allowing me the opportunity to focus on some very serious issues we've been working hard to address.
The first is in relation to drug supply and in particular, cannabis cultivations.
For a cannabis cultivation to be financially viable, a significant space is required, and thereafter high levels of electricity and water are used to maximise the growth of the plants.
What we tend to see is that criminals will either force entry to an unoccupied property, or they will rent a large home or building from an unsuspecting landlord.
They will then tamper with electricity meters and plumbing to meet the needs of their cannabis growing operation.
Not only is this incredibly dangerous, particularly when you're messing with electricity and water, it ultimately results in significant damage to the properties in question and means that those who own these buildings are left to foot the cost of repairs.
Since March 2025, the West Proactive Crime Team (PCT) have been progressing inquiries involving intercepted packages of cannabis going to a variety of addresses in West Lothian, Midlothian, and Edinburgh.
Between January and April 2025, UK Border Force intercepted 68kgs for addresses assessed to belong to the group involved.
On April 1, West PCT seized a further 25 kgs of cannabis from an address in Livingston with a further 1kg from a neighbouring address.
As a result of evidential analysis carried out following these searches, warrants were granted for 15 further properties throughout the Lothians and Scottish Borders Division, and Edinburgh.
Three men aged 33, 31 and 24 were subsequently charged in connection with these inquiries.
In addition to the 68kgs of cannabis seized by UKBF, police enforcement saw the recovery of 42kgs of cannabis along with around £24,000 in cash.
The estimated value of all of the drugs seized attributed to group is around £700,000.
On June 10 and 11, two large scale cannabis cultivations were discovered in Livingston and Uphall and after warrants were executed at these addresses, plants worth over £80,000 were recovered in Livingston, while within Uphall the value of the cultivation was totalled to be around £320,000.
Within both cultivation addresses, Vietnamese males were discovered and reported being victims of human trafficking. Our inquiries are continuing.
This brings me onto the second issue I wanted to discuss, namely human trafficking.
Organised criminals continually look to exploit vulnerable people for their own gain and often this takes the form of bringing people from foreign countries into the UK illegally and making them work in squalid and dangerous conditions – usually through fear and intimidation.
We treat all reports of human trafficking with the utmost seriousness and work with international partners to return victims to their countries of origin while relentlessly pursuing those responsible for such offences.
If you have any concerns relating to organised crime, drug offences or human trafficking, please contact us via 101 or make an anonymous report to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
Lorry driver for ruthless human traffickers linked to deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants is freed from prison after serving half his seven-year sentence
A lorry driver for the gang responsible for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese men, women and children in a failed people smuggling operation has been released from prison after serving just three and a half years. Christopher Kennedy was at the heart of the complex and lucrative human smuggling operation which for years illegally brought Vietnamese people into the UK from the Continent. Kennedy, 29, picked up containers with people inside, but not the one in which 39 Vietnamese, aged between 15 and 44, suffocated in at Purfleet, Essex in October 2019. However, the trial of the ring leaders of the people-smuggling gang heard that Kennedy, from Keady in County Armagh, was a key member and 'in the loop' after the tragedy unfolded. The Old Bailey was told Kennedy received several phone calls from haulier boss Ronan Hughes soon after the bodies were discovered in one of his trailer's by driver Maurice Robinson. The jury heard that while Robinson was informing Hughes of the discovery, Kennedy was trying to get hold of him too. Within 46 seconds of the phone call ending, Hughes rang Kennedy, who was transporting a load of wine to the UK. Seven minutes later, Hughes called Kennedy again. The court was told the calls were made between burner phones belonging to the pair. Kennedy said the calls were regarding a 'problem' with his booking to transport the wine by boat from Zeebrugge and that he should go by train. Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones said: 'I suggest to you, Mr Kennedy, you are making this up and Mr Hughes, dealing with 39 dead unlawful migrants, is not at the time calmly carrying on with you about your load of wine and whether you are on the boat or on the train. 'You have had to dream up an excuse for this call.' Kennedy insisted he was telling the truth. Later on Kennedy texted a friend that the trailer in which the bodies were found belonged to Hughes. He told the friend there 'must have been too many and run out of air'. His trial in December 2020 heard he picked up containers in Essex which arrived from Belgium. His job was to deliver them to a remote location at Orsett, a 20 minute drive from the port. Twice he did this in the two weeks before the smuggling operation which went wrong on October 23 2019, which is why he was tried with the other drivers involved. Kennedy was not charged with manslaughter but was instead charged with conspiracy to assist in unlawful immigration. He denied the charge and claimed he thought he was transporting cigarettes, but a jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to seven-years in jail. The Prison Service confirmed to MailOnline that Kennedy was released in January 2025 after serving half his sentence, in line with sentencing guidelines. A spokesperson said: 'Offenders released on licence are subject to strict conditions and we do not hesitate to send them back to prison if they break the rules.' Kennedy was sentenced alongside other key members of the gang. Four were found guilty of manslaughter of the 39 migrants, who died 'excruciatingly painful' deaths, according to the judge. Ronan Hughes, 41, and Gheorghe Nica, 43, played 'leading roles' in the smuggling conspiracy and were jailed for 20 and 27 years respectively. Two other lorry drivers were also jailed for manslaughter. Eamonn Harrison, 24, who towed the trailer to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge before their journey to the UK, was sentenced to 18 years. Maurice Robinson, 26, was given 13 years and four months, having collected the trailer and opened it in an industrial estate to find the migrants dead. Two of Kennedy's fellow truck drivers were sentenced for conspiracy to facilitate unlawful immigration. Valentin Calota, 38, of Birmingham, for four-and-a-half years; and Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 28, of Hobart Road, Tilbury, Essex, was given a three-year sentence. They are understood to have been released. Sentencing, Mr Justice Sweeney said:'I have no doubt that the conspiracy was a sophisticated, long-running and profitable one to smuggle mainly Vietnamese people across the channel.' He said on the fatal trip the temperature had been rising along with the carbon dioxide levels throughout, hitting 40C (104F) while the container was at sea on 22 October 2019. 'There were desperate attempts to contact the outside world by phone and to break through the roof of the container,' the judge said. 'All were to no avail and, before the ship reached Purfleet, [the victims] all died in what must have been an excruciatingly painful death.' In March 2022, the Old Bailey heard Kennedy had made £67,050.65 from people smuggling but had just £6,094.18 in his Bank of Ireland account. Judge Mark Lucraft QC ordered that the available money should be confiscated and used as compensation to the families of the victims.
Spectator
4 days ago
- Spectator
The origin of the Thailand-Cambodia conflict
A border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia which goes back more than a century has once again erupted in fatal clashes, leading to diplomatic alarm and appeals for international help. There has long been a schism between the two countries over an arbitrarily-drawn, 817-kilometre border conceived by the French in 1907. The present confrontation began in May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed during an exchange of fire between Thai and Cambodian troops in a border region known as the Emerald Triangle because it also shares a frontier with Laos. Despite attempts to prevent escalation, tensions continued to rise. Troop deployments on both sides were reinforced, border crossings were restricted and Thailand threatened to cut electricity and internet links to border towns in Cambodia. There were further deaths and injuries caused by legacy landmine explosions. The mines had been left buried along the border with Thailand after years of conflict from the 1970s to 1990s, including the Vietnam war and the Cambodian-Vietnamese war which involved the brutal, communist Khmer Rouge rulers of the renamed Kampuchea. A Thai soldier lost a leg from a mine detonation on 16 July and then five more soldiers were injured from blasts. The deaths and injuries led to a huge escalation between the two countries. Thailand launched six F-16 fighter jets to the border, one of which bombed a 'military' target in Cambodia; and in a second raid, four F-16s were sent to bomb more military sites. Cambodian troops fired rockets and artillery shells, striking homes and public buildings. At least one Thai civilian was killed in Surin province, and three others, including a five-year-old boy, were injured, according to Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a Thai government spokesman. According to the health ministry in Bangkok, at least 11 civilians and one soldier have been killed in Thailand from artillery fire in the recent clashes. Twenty-four civilians and seven military personnel have been injured, the ministry said. Casualties in Cambodia are unknown. In one incident, the Thai army claims, six people were killed at a petrol station in Thailand from Cambodian rocket fire. Hundreds of people have fled their homes near the border. Thailand eventually closed its entire border with Cambodia. Each country condemned the other's aggression and refused to take responsibility for starting the new round of border clashes. In the midst of the border confrontations, Thailand's prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was caught making a highly controversial telephone call to Hun Sen, the powerful former leader of Cambodia in which she denigrated the Thai army's actions on the border. She addressed Hun Sen as 'uncle'. The conversation was leaked, and the Thai prime minister was suspended. She now faces dismissal. In terms of firepower and military capability, Thailand is streets ahead of Cambodia. With more than 360,000 active military personnel, Thailand has triple the manpower. Thailand's air force is 'one of the best-equipped and trained in Southeast Asia,' according to Military Balance 2025, published by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. At the heart of the current border dispute is the Ta Muen Thom temple in Cambodia. The Cambodian defence ministry accused Thai soldiers of installing barbed wire around the base of the temple and flew drones across the border. Bangkok said Cambodia made the first aggressive move.
Daily Record
5 days ago
- Daily Record
Ex-Police Scotland chief announces retirement after being cleared in sexual offences probe
Will Kerr worked for Police Scotland before moving on to Devon and Cornwall Police in December 2022. A former top Scots cop who has been suspended from his job for over two years has announced he is retiring. Will Kerr, who was Deputy Chief Constable at Police Scotland, was suspended as chief constable of Devon and Cornwall Police in 2023 after it emerged he was under investigation following allegations of sexual offences. In April this year prosecutors in Northern Ireland said a decision had been taken not to bring charges against him. Kerr was a former assistant chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). He had worked for the PSNI for 27 years, later joining Police Scotland before moving to Devon and Cornwall Police in December 2022. The force's police and crime commissioner, Alison Hernandez, said it had been "mutually agreed" with Mr Kerr for him to retire, which would allow for "new and stable" leadership to be appointed. A misconduct investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in England continues although this was not related to the criminal allegations investigated in Northern Ireland. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. In a statement, Kerr said: "Having been cleared in relation to what I believe were malicious criminal allegations in Northern Ireland, I have decided that it's now in the best interests of my family and the force that I retire as chief constable. "After nearly 36 years of public service, this is not the way I would have chosen to retire but the force, and communities across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, deserve stable leadership in policing. "I remain a strong advocate for effective accountability in policing, but that accountability process must be fair, timely and proportionate. Sadly, like too many other officers, that has not been my experience over the past two years. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. "I continue to wish all of the highly committed officers and staff in Devon and Cornwall Police well and, despite the personal challenges of the past few years, I remain proud of the value of community-focused policing, and a firm supporter of the people within its ranks. I would also like to thank PCC Alison Hernandez for her consistent support over the past two years, and her commitment to fair and proportionate justice." Hernandez added: "Suspension from duty is a neutral act and there is always a presumption of innocence until proved otherwise. "I have now agreed Mr Kerr's departure from the force to allow processes for new and stable leadership to take Devon and Cornwall Police forward as this is now in the best interests of all parties. "Mr Kerr's skills and experience will be a loss to UK policing. I remain frustrated at the amount of time this investigation has taken and the way that cross jurisdictional issues have lengthened the process during separate investigations by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland and now the IOPC. "His departure does not signal guilt, but instead a deep appreciation of the need for Devon and Cornwall Police to move forward with stable leadership from a substantive chief constable. "James Vaughan will continue as interim chief constable until a new recruitment process is complete. In accordance with police misconduct regulations, the investigations will continue."
