We're losing the war on county lines drug gang's

Narcotics crime and deadly overdoses are on the rise

- MARY WRIGHT

DRUG-RELATED crime and fatal overdoses are surging as gangs tighten their stranglehold in Scotland, shock figures show.

The production, cultivation or manufacture of drugs rose by almost 50 per cent between April and June compared with the same quarter the previous year.

The supply of drugs has gone up by almost 30 per cent, according to Police Scotland data, as detection rates fell by more than eight per cent and smuggling drugs into prisons soared by over 45 per cent.

It comes after we revealed that a spiralling drugs crisis is devastating lives, with UK county lines criminal gangs moving into the Highlands as part of organised crime's growing footprint in the north of Scotland.

Scotland's drug deaths remain the highest in Europe -3.5 times higher than England and Wales, despite thousands of deaths south of the Border previously being missed off official statistics and overdose deaths are on the rise.