Pubdate: Sun, 08 Feb 2004
Source: Sunday Herald, The (UK)
Copyright: 2004 Sunday Herald
Contact:  http://www.sundayherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/873
Author: Stephen Naysmith

DRUGS TSAR TO TARGET ORGANISED CRIME

New Chief Of Enforcement Agency Aims To Shift Focus From Drugs Seizures To 
Netting Top 100 Criminals

SEIZING large quantities of heroin or cocaine on the way into Britain is 
almost useless in the fight against drugs according to the new head of the 
Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency who said police instead needed to tackle 
the "underlying logic of crime".

Graeme Pearson, currently assistant chief constable at Strathclyde Police, 
will take over from Jim Orr, who retired in January, as director of the agency.

He said he would steer the agency towards a broader crusade against 
approximately 100 major league organised criminals active in Scotland, and 
the profits of their crimes.

The drug enforcement agency should not be restricted by artificial 
distinctions between different kinds of illegal behaviour, as the drug 
barons are not, he said.

"We've come to learn that if you are going to attack those involved in drug 
supply and drug dealing, what you need to do is come at them from all 
directions. Those who gain profit from drugs are also involved in 
counterfeiting, smuggling, pornography and human trafficking.

"If we stop drugs tomorrow, will organised crime stop? The answer is no," 
Pearson said. "We have paid a lot of attention over the years to seizing 
kilos of white powder, but that is not enough. Unfortunately there are 
countries in the world that can produce any amount of heroin or cocaine. We 
can keep making seizures but the SDEA's role is to attack the higher level 
of criminality ."

Pearson said that the Proceeds of Crime Act was enabling forces to seize 
the assets of major drug dealers, and Scottish forces are now equipped with 
officers trained in financial investigation techniques which should make 
the powers more effective.

Set up in June 2000, the SDEA will now work with other agencies such as the 
Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise to tackle crime and seize the 
proceeds, he said. It will also work internationally, as serious crime is 
now a transnational problem.

Individual police forces will continue to tackle local criminals, he said. 
"I believe that the public want to see the scheme criminals caught. They 
want to see them losing their assets and those assets being used for other 
things, such as community projects."

Such efforts will continue, but the SDEA will work at a higher level and 
must work much better with other agencies such as customs and the tax 
authorities. In some cases a conviction for dealing in drugs may not be 
pursued if a better impact can be achieved elsewhere, Pearson argued.

"We should not be bound by an individual agency's need to get a result. We 
should pursue the course that gets the best result for law enforcement. In 
some cases, instead of a criminal charge, authorities have used the 
Proceeds of Crime Act or in other cases passed it to customs or the Inland 
Revenue. It is controversial but that is what the pubic demand," he said.

The SDEA would not tolerate the "cannabis cafe" which has been proposed in 
Edinburgh, there or anywhere else in Scotland, Pearson said, adding that 
reclassification was a "false move".

"Criminals gain profit from cannabis and it is an offence to possess or 
abuse it. If you remove it from criminality you legitimise it and there are 
thousands of parents who will tell you of their misery in relation to kids 
getting involved in cannabis."

Pearson said "apologists" who depicted cannabis as no worse than alcohol 
were muddying the waters, and medical opinion was increasingly drawing 
attention to the damaging effects of the drug on people's mental health.

"People need to understand that the person who brings cannabis to Scotland 
is as likely to have four kilos of cocaine and two of heroin ."

Pearson was also critical of calls for the legalisation of heroin which 
have come from, among others, the chief constable of North Wales Police 
Richard Brunstrom.

" I don't think it would gain support in Scotland," Pearson said. "It would 
not deal a blow to organised crime because the criminals would simply find 
a new commodity."

With reference to the "shooting galleries" seen in some countries where 
addicts can legally take heroin he added: " You have hundreds of young 
people gathering about outside, some don't have the patience to queue and 
so they sit in the public street injecting outside. It is no way for human 
beings to exist."

Instead, he praised the Scottish Executive's social inclusion approach. "It 
is not about one area of activity, but getting health right, social work 
support and getting the economy right ," he said.

Cathy Jamieson announced Pearson's appointment on Friday. The Scottish 
Executive has pledged to expand the work of the SDEA.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom