£60,000 in drugs and stolen goods recovered in Musselburgh raid

TWO men have been arrested and charged after police in Edinburgh recovered stolen vehicles, stolen property and drugs in the south of the city.

File picture: Steven Scott Taylor

Following intelligence from the public, officers from the Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit visited an address in Peacocktail Close on Wednesday 23rd March where they recovered two Ford Transit vans that had been stolen from Edinburgh Road, Musselburgh and Salisbury Road, Edinburgh earlier this year.

A subsequent search was then carried out a rented unit in The Whisp where a Landrover Defender was found within.

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Inquiries established the vehicle had been stolen from a business premises in Olive Bank Road, Musselburgh in August 2015.

A second Landrover and an off-road motocycle were also seized from the premises and are now subject to further investigation to determine if these have also been stolen.

In addition, police seized approximately 2.5 kilos of cannabis and a number of power tools, building supplies and kitchen fixtures, which are believed stolen.

The men aged 27 and 24 have been charged with reset and drugs offences and will appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday 24th March.

The recovered drugs have an estimated value of around £8,700, while the stolen property and vehicles are worth an estimated £50,000.

Detective Inspector Graeme Naysmith from East OCCTU said: “This is another significant recovery of drugs and stolen property, all of which was to be used to fund serious and organised crime within the Capital.

“The seizure of these items and the arrests made during Wednesday’s activity should send a clear message that organised crime will not be tolerated and that we are actively targeting those involved.

“Once again, the public has greatly assisted our efforts by providing vital information and I would urge our communities to come forward if they have knowledge of any ongoing criminal activity in their area.

“Rest assured any reports to police will be handled confidentially and professionally and investigated robustly.”

Chief Inspector Mark Rennie, Local Area Commander for South Edinburgh said: “Our local residents within South Edinburgh have identified tackling drug crime and housebreaking as two of the top priorities for us to address and we continue to work hard to tackle these issues and remove offenders from our communities.

“We could not have successfully recovered the drugs and stolen property from the premises in the Whisp had it not been for the outstanding support of the public and I would like to thank those who have come forward and assisted us in making a real impact on organised crime groups operating in the area.”