Safer Communities

Operation Portaledge
A dedicated team from our Specialist Crime Division has been working alongside divisional officers and operational support colleagues since March to investigate targeted attacks in both the East and West of the country. This is one of the largest investigations we have ongoing in Police Scotland.

A total of 35 arrests have already been made, 14 stolen vehicles have been recovered, and 3000 hours of CCTV footage has been reviewed. Local officers have been carrying out intelligence-led patrols to disrupt the activities of criminals and build reassurance in our communities. Armed policing officers have been using their specialist skills and professionalism to support the operation and safely carry out arrests.

As well as carrying out days of action and disruption activities, there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes, including exploring forensic opportunities and analysis of digital devices.

We want to thank our colleagues at SPA Forensics for prioritising this work and ensuring our officers have the results and resources to make arrests quickly and bring people to court.

While some of this work may not be as visible, the public can be assured we are working tirelessly to build cases and are following a number of significant lines of enquiry.

We have had a good response to our appeals and I want to thank the public for their help and information so far. The support of our communities is vital in tackling serious organised crime, preventing violence and getting justice for victims.

Operation Intensity
As part of Operation Intensity, officers have made 100 arrests, seized more than 200 kilograms of illegal drugs, took three firearms off the street and safeguarded 11 children as part efforts to dismantle a Scottish organised crime gang.

The investigation began in May 2023 and involved officers from the Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit, who targeted a well-resourced criminal network exploiting vulnerable people in some of our most deprived communities to fund their crimes.

Forty-six search warrants were executed as part of action to disrupt the gang, which resulted in large quantities of drugs, including cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, pills and herbal cannabis being seized.

More than £600,000 in cash and firearms, including a handgun, air weapon and a BB gun, were also recovered with ammunition from the addresses.

Alongside this enforcement activity, 11 children were safeguarded after officers identified they were at risk from the gang as part of their criminal activities. They were referred to partner agencies or passed into the care of family members.

Operation Begonia
Prostitution brings significant threat of risk and harm to both the people involved in on street and off street prostitution, and to local communities. People involved in prostitution, most of whom are women, are particularly vulnerable to violence from individuals or through exploitation by organised crime gangs.

Operation Begonia, our new national approach to on street prostitution, targets areas where it remains an issue.

During Begonia patrols, our officers will speak with people involved in on street prostitution, to make sure they are safe, to ask if they need help and to signpost them to our local partners who can offer support.

Minister for Victims and Community Safety, Siobhan Brown, joined our officers in Dundee on Tuesday, 29 April, to see Op Begonia in action.

We hope that this approach will be a first step to eventually supporting people to exit prostitution.

Begonia patrols, which are in addition to regular patrols, were piloted in Aberdeen and now operate in Glasgow and Dundee. As well as offering support to women, the patrols will tackle kerb crawling.

Prostitution is a form of violence against women and girls. Begonia enables officers to build trust and confidence in policing, while making communities safer and supporting victims.

Operation Buccal
A 33-year-old man was convicted of the murder of Maxine Clark at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday, 30 April.

Emergency services attended at 36-year-old Maxine Clark's home in the Riddrie area of Glasgow in June last year. She was found to have extensive injuries and was pronounced dead a short time later.

Subsequent enquiries resulted in Mark Keel being arrested and charged in connection with her death. Following his conviction, he is due to be sentenced later this month.

Officers received specialist support from the Digital Evidence Detection Dogs in this case. They carried out searches to locate Maxine’s mobile phone, which played a key part of our investigation.

This was an extremely brutal and sustained attack and our thoughts remain with Maxine’s family.

Road safety
We continue to focus on the safety of motorcyclists as part of our national campaign that runs from March until September.

I’m hugely grateful to Iain Dominick who powerfully shared the story of his son Ross, who tragically lost his life when he was riding his motorcycle in Glencoe in 2023 and was hit by a car at a junction.

As well as a clear call for road users to take another look and respect every person on the road, our officers continue to engage directly with motorcyclists.

This month, we had officers at the North West 200 motorcycle road race in Northern Ireland, using the opportunity to speak to bikers.

The popular event attracts around 150,000 spectators from the biking community with many travelling from Scotland or through Scotland to attend.

For the first time at the event, we were alongside police colleagues from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, working together to help motorcyclists and raise awareness of the main risks such as cornering left hand bends and overtaking.

Road policing remains a priority for Police Scotland, and we will continue to work very closely with a range of partners to improve road safety for all users. We all have a responsibility to use our roads safely and to help save lives.

Significant outcome – cannabis cultivation
At the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday, 23 April, 2025, 38-year-old Antonjo Selami was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for being concerned in the production of a controlled drug.

This follows two others who were sentenced in December for the same incident. Auriel Xhoka, 33, and Glendian Daci, 26, were each sentenced to three years and nine months.

It was on Sunday, 21 January, 2024, that officers acting on intelligence searched a disused retail unit in Greenock and discovered a cannabis cultivation worth up to £3.6 million.

The sophisticated set-up included a total of 6,000 plants in two large growing areas. Each area had irrigation, industrial heating and lighting units for the plants.

Uncovering a cultivation of this scale has a significant impact on the supply of cannabis onto Scotland’s streets.

Police Scotland remains committed to the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce and the country’s Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, and our officers are determined to protect members of the public from this type of criminality.