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Article: The Friday Interview: Gordon Meldrum: Mapping out an attack on organised crime
- Article from:
- The Scotsman
- Article date:
- March 14, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2008 The Scotsman. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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GORDON Meldrum is a man on a mission. As director-general of the
Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), his job is to
protect communities in Scotland from the scourge of drug dealers,
money launderers and other organised criminals.
It is a daunting task. As The Scotsman reported earlier this
week, "dirty money", or assets derived from crime, represents a
staggering 2 per cent of the UK's GDP, or GBP 18 billion. Up to half
of that is derived from illegal drug transactions. Meanwhile, the
economic and social costs of serious organised crime are estimated
at between GBP 20 billion and GBP 40 billion a year.
And his is a job made even harder by the shifting sands of the
organised ...