Pubdate: Sun, 02 Dec 2001
Source: Scotland On Sunday (UK)
Copyright: 2001 The Scotsman Publications Ltd.
Contact:  scotlandonsunday.com
Website: http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/405
Author: Gina Davidson

HEROIN GALORE

Ferry Route Will Be A Drug Smuggler's Dream

The head of the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency fears the first direct 
ferry link between Scotland and the Continent will open a new drugs route 
into the country.

Jim Orr, director of the SDEA, revealed that discussions are to be held 
with police and customs to combat the smuggling threat posed by the A?12m 
Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry service, due to open in May next year.

The service, which will be run by Greek firm Superfast Ferries, has been 
hailed as one of the most significant developments for Scottish business 
and the tourist industry for years.

But Orr has raised the spectre of Scotland being flooded with heroin and 
cocaine from the continent if the ferry link is not policed appropriately.

Currently there are thought to be 30 tonnes of heroin and between 25 and 40 
tonnes of cocaine smuggled into Britain every year, most of it coming into 
the UK from Holland and Spain.

In an interview for Grampian television, Orr said that Scotland's vast and 
inaccessible coastline was already being used by drug smugglers and that 
the Rosyth ferry could be yet another way in.

He added: "In the main, drugs are coming in by road, but they also use the 
air and rail infrastructures. Drug smugglers will look at every opportunity 
in terms of routes.

"There will always be a risk because they are very inventive. That is why 
we need very good vigilance and why it is crucial that we have a good 
relationship with customs.

"The Rosyth ferry is a concern. We will be in discussions with law 
enforcement colleagues to look at the threat.

"Logically it could be a conduit for drug trafficking and it is somewhere 
that we need to be sure that we have good intelligence."

The plan to build a roll-on, roll-off ferry terminal at the former navy 
base at Rosyth only secured its A?12m grant last month from transport 
secretary Stephen Byers.

Forth Ports, which operates Rosyth, is now working to meet the start-up 
date next year. There are plans for a terminal building, modernisation of 
an existing berth and hundreds of parking spaces.

Superfast will fit out two A?65m passenger ferries, which will see a daily 
service in each direction with a sailing time of 16 to 18 hours. It 
expected that the ferries will take as many as 30,000 heavy lorries a year 
off Scotland's roads.

Customs spokesman David Clark said he was satisfied that officers would be 
able to minimise the risk of Rosyth being used to smuggle drugs. "We 
recognise that with the Rosyth ferry terminal being the main direct link 
from continental Europe to Scotland for both freight and passengers, there 
clearly will be an increased risk for smuggling both drugs and contraband," 
he said.

"We will make sure that we resource the ferry port adequately and in 
proportion to the risk, to ensure that it doesna TMt become a place drug 
smugglers think they can use.

"We have a mobile scanner which will be there that will x-ray all vehicles 
to examine what is inside them.

"These machines are already in place at Dover and Felixstowe and have 
proved very successful - even picking up illegal immigrants."

David Mellor, assistant chief constable for Fife Police said: "We are 
working closely with the Scottish Executive to have funding in place to 
ensure that the ferry port is properly policed, and we are confident that 
these discussions will have a positive outcome.

"The arrival of the ferry is a greatly welcomed commercial and recreational 
opportunity for the east coast of Scotland, but inevitably it will also 
bring with it openings for potential criminality.

"To counter this we will work closely with the SDEA, customs and other 
organisations to ensure that we are ready to tackle this type of activity."

In his television interview, Orr also said that despite government plans to 
reclassify cannabis he still regarded it as a "dangerous drug" which opened 
"gateways" to harder substances. "Let's be quite blunt about this, all 
drugs are dangerous. What is being suggested is a reclassification from 
Class B to C so it will still be a criminal offence to be in possession or 
trafficking in cannabis.

"Cannabis is not and never will be a drug that is harm free. If there is a 
reclassification then there must be a message to explain why and how it has 
been reclassified.

"There is always a danger that it is a gateway drug. Dealers deal in 
multi-commodities: heroin, cocaine and cannabis.

"If you speak to addicts they will tell you they regard cannabis as a 
gateway to an environment where you are offered harder drugs.

"There must still be a strong education message that all drugs are dangerous."
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