We need a better understanding of the exact nature and threat posed by serious and organised crime

Meldrum, who leads the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, said: "We need a better understanding of the exact nature and threat posed by serious and organised crime.Gordon Meldrum, the head of Scotland's "FBI", believes lessons can be learned from the war against the Mafia in the US.
"The FBI started to have real success against the big Mafia families in New York in the mid-70s on the basis of a research paper that was written by a group of Harvard professors.
"It was about, stop looking at the individual, look at the entire network and actually work out a strategy.
"If you impact on that part of the network, then this will be the result on the rest of the network.
"The individual who never goes anywhere near the front of the business might have to come a bit closer."
The former Strathclyde Police officer added: "I am prepared to go anywhere and try anything with anyone.
"It might be that we want to know more about the impact of organised crime on Scotland's economy.
"That's something that could go to a think-tank or a particular university or maybe a business school or a group of economists."
Meldrum, 41, was previously deputy to former agency chief Graeme Pearson.
He has even done part of his training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
But he admits organised gangs will be a tough nut to crack - and remains alarmed at the amount of drugs available in Scotland.
He said: "We are still seeing a lot of heroin on the streets. We had a large seizure last year, 170 kilos, in Glasgow.
"All the work we did in the aftermath of that suggested that did not cause a blip in availability.