Police hail drugs operation

Police forces co-ordinated their approach

Police have seized drugs worth more than £14m and arrested hundreds of suspected drug dealers during a major clampdown, it has been announced.

During the first four months of the Know the Score campaign, which ends on 31 August, police said they arrested more than 2,000 people and recovered significant amounts of heroin, cocaine and ecstasy.

A single haul, worth £6.3m, seized on the A74 motorway in Dumfries and Galloway, accounted for almost half of the total.

The high profile clampdown began in April and has involved all eight police forces and British Transport Police in Scotland.

A large amount of heroin was recovered

The campaign has also involved a number of events to promote awareness and alternatives to drugs among teenagers.

Heroin accounted for almost £9m of the total amount of drugs recovered, while officers also seized £1m worth of cocaine.

Police also found 142,000 Ecstasy tablets and 40kg of amphetamines. Some 2,000 suspected dealers are also said to have been arrested.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, Jim Orr, director of the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency, said the figures should reassure communities that their policy was working effectively.

He said: "These figures are an impressive reflection of the hard-hitting efforts of the Scottish police service to stamp out drug dealing in Scotland.

"Know The Score is playing a significant part in taking drugs off our streets and will continue to do so.

"It's about police forces and the agency working together. The figures must reassure communities that their police are working on their behalf.

"In terms of SDEA our work is looking at the upper level drug dealers and it's really important to make an impact at the top level."

Last month the SDEA announced it had seized £17.5m worth of drugs and arrested 130 major drugs criminals in its first year.

The organisation was set tough new targets from Deputy Justice Minister Iain Gray, who demanded a 5% rise in arrests and seizures.