TALKS are under way that could give the power to carry firearms to a police task force set up to battle organised crime in Scotland.
Graeme Pearson, the director of the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency, has said that the organisation should have its own unit of armed officers to respond to emergency situations.
His comments came as the agency’s annual report revealed that throughout 2004 and the first half of 2005, it seized more than 400kg of Class A and B drugs with a combined street value of more than £22 million. Last night the Scottish Executive confirmed that discussions were taking place between the agency and the country’s chief constables over giving the agency direct access to guns.
Now, during an operation, the agency loses time as it has to contact a local police force and ask for firearm support.
Mr Pearson said yesterday that it needed “latitude” to be able to do its job. He added: “In the dead of night when we are dealing with those that we identify as the most serious criminals in Scotland, and sometimes in Europe, we could have an emergency situation where firearms predictably become an issue.
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“I think that my officers have the right to be protected and also have a duty to protect the public.”
Mr Pearson added that in pre-planned operations, the agency would still go to the local force for firearms support.
Its annual report also made clear that the agency’s operations led to the arrests of 225 people, helped to confiscate more than £30 million of assets from drug dealers and disrupted more than 84 criminal networks.
Mr Pearson said that the agency had tackled criminals on several fronts such as global internet crime, which included online child abuse, organised immigration crime and international money laundering.