Dealers are targeting the Highlands and Islands with cocaine because they see the region as prosperous, Northern’s chief constable believes.

The abuse of the drug remains low compared to that of other substances.

Chief Constable Ian Latimer added: “Cannabis is still the drug of choice you could say followed by amphetamines then heroin.

“The only significant change we have had is some small seizures and growing treatment needs around cocaine.”

He said this was an issue that had emerged only recently.

Mr Latimer said drug dealers were multi-commodity and were targeting an increasingly prosperous area where they saw a gap in the market.
The chief constable welcomed the sentencing of a courier involved in a foiled plot to flood Shetland with cheap heroin to open up a new market.

James Farrell, 43, was jailed for five years and three months on Wednesday after being caught with £25,000 of the drug.

Police in Shetland had intelligence that a significant criminal syndicate in Liverpool had identified the area as a lucrative market for their heroin.

Farrell, from Liverpool, admitted supplying heroin when he appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Mr Latimer said: “The James Farrell case was a very significant result.

“Yes, it is one case, but it reflects the wider successes that the force has had in terms of the enforcement activity around drugs supply into the force area.

“I think it is a deterrent sentence of five years.”

He added: “We are targeted for drugs supply but we are getting more and more skilled at identifying drugs supply into the force area, so it was a significant success but it’s not an isolated one.”

Local criminals

Mr Latimer said it was no surprise that organised crime groups from big cities were often involved.

He said: “Unfortunately, those crime groups have been established in big cities for long periods of time but they are linking up with local criminals here.

“It is the local criminals on the ground in the Highlands and Islands that are supplying the drugs. They are the ones who are in the clubs, they are the ones in the pubs and ones on the street.

“Drugs are a problem in the Highlands and Islands as much as they are elsewhere.”

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