Baku, September 24, AZERTAC
One of Scotland's biggest police operations has targeted a Vietnamese organized crime group linked to human trafficking and cannabis farms, BBC reported.
About 300 officers took part in simultaneous early-morning raids, leading to the arrest of 36 people and the discovery of 14 cannabis-growing operations.
In total, police searched or checked 47 addresses in Aberdeen, Dundee, Falkirk, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Midlothian and the Scottish Borders.
Police Scotland allege the gang is involved in "poly-criminality," including human trafficking, drug production, fraud, money laundering and organized immigration crime.
The force says the activities first came to light after Vietnamese criminals were connected to 150 cannabis farms discovered in Scotland last year.
Around 120 people had been arrested - so-called "gardeners"- and drugs worth £26m were seized.
Subsequent inquiries linked a single Vietnamese crime group to about a third of the farms, with months of planning leading up to Wednesday's raids.
Det Supt Stevie Bertram said: "This was by far the biggest human trafficking investigation that Police Scotland has ever run.
"We wanted to disrupt and absolutely cripple that organization.
"We wanted to do it all in one day and I think it's been a huge success. Essentially, they won't be able to function.
"All of the targets of this operation have been arrested and they are the ones we believe are running that operation."
Police Scotland officers arrested individuals in Birmingham as part of Wednesday's enforcement action, which was carried out with support from Home Office Immigration Enforcement and His Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
"We think the group runs across the UK and internationally," said Bertram.