Serious Organised Crime Taskforce: progress report 2023

Foreword

This progress report offers an insight into some of the activity taken forward by partners to contribute to the aims of the Serious Organised Crime Strategy and to ensure we have a safer, fairer and more prosperous country free from the harm caused by serious organised crime.

Since the publication of the last report in 2020, there has been a significant amount of work undertaken by members of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to ensure that those engaged in organised criminal activity are detected and disrupted at every turn and held to account for the harm they cause to individuals, communities and businesses. The aim is to ensure organised criminals are deterred from targeting our public, private and third sectors, and that people are diverted away from becoming involved in serious organised crime and using its products. I want to thank Taskforce members for all their work.

The refreshed Serious Organised Crime Strategy, published in February 2022, has a focus on strengthening the links between intelligence and tasking, making better use of data and supporting efforts to improve collaboration across all sectors of society to combat the constantly evolving challenge that serious organised crime poses. Serious organised crime is everyone’s business and we all have a part to play in working together to achieve the vision and aims of the refreshed Serious Organised Crime Strategy.

I am grateful to the many organisations across the public, private and third sectors who have contributed to the work of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce and look forward to continuing our collaborative efforts to eradicate serious organised crime in Scotland.

Angela Constance MSP

Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs

Chair, Serious Organised Crime Taskforce