Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

The Sunday Post View: Much more must be done to tackle organised crime

Post Thumbnail

OUR revelations in Sunday’s paper make worrying reading. Eastern European crime gangs arming criminals in this country with an array of weapons to the point that their deals even include a sweetener – a free hand grenade.

The expose also comes after an extraordinary 15 months in Scotland in which we have seen gang-related violence become a common occurrence.

Revealed: Deadly bargains as arms traffickers offer Scots gangsters free grenade with every gun and two-for-one deals

Young men shot dead at traffic lights, others blasted outside primary schools as they drop off their children, and others slashed and stabbed.

Now while Justice Minister Michael Matheson tells the country that offences are at record low levels and that most folk don’t witness crime, he must accept the scale of the problem involving organised criminals.

It’s also too easy for others to shrug their shoulders and say that gangsters don’t impact on their lives and they can happily do away with each other.

Such views couldn’t be more misguided.

Organised crime makes millions of pounds from illicit activities that blight lives throughout Scotland.

I am now operating on patients here with the same gunshot injuries I treated in Miami, says Scots surgeon

Drugs, for instance, kill indiscriminately whether you live in a council housing estate or a private gated community.

And who’s to say that the next time a hood tries to take out another criminal with a gun at a set of traffic lights he doesn’t also claim the life of an innocent bystander, even a child?

So while those in authority praise themselves over a reduction in offending figures across the board, they must do more to eradicate organised crime in Scotland.

Convictions after a violent event are a step forward but they are just that – after the event.

The murder and mayhem associated with gangs must be stopped before it happens.