Gang war arrests reach 52 as investigation into feud continues

Police have made two more arrests in connection with an ongoing gang war across central Scotland, bringing the total to 52.

Officers executing a warrant in Blantyre on Friday morning arrested a 49-year-old man in connection with an attempted murder on Pitcairn Grove in Edinburgh on May 22.

He was also arrested and charged in connection with a drugs offence and is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday.

A 22-year-old man was arrested in connection with wilful fire-raising of two vehicles on Campion Road and Niddrie Marischal Crescent in Edinburgh on June 9. He was released pending further enquiries.

Last month, Police Scotland’s chief constable urged members of the public to come forward to aid detectives in tracking down those involved.

Jo Farrell said: “My priority has been to ensure that the people of Scotland are safe, so we have put a lot of resource and effort and skill behind Operation Portlage.

“Our drive is to reduce activity of people involved in serious and organised crime in Scotland.

“What we’ve seen as part of this work is people coming forward, giving the police information, which has helped us tremendously in identifying, targeting those people that are dealing in drugs.

“They’re dealing in violence, they’re exploiting people who are vulnerable, and they are causing a lot of harm in local communities.

“People are seeing this on a daily basis and it’s our drive to eradicate it.”

Local and specialist officers continue to carry out extensive enquiries to gather evidence.