Crime report reveals Scottish ‘terror attack’ plot

A police investigation by several authorities apparently looked into preparations for a terrorist attack in Scotland.

Brief details of the case were revealed in a report by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The NCA said a counter-terrorism investigation called Operation Ferulic was led by police in Scotland and focused on “the apparent preparation of a firearms attack in the Edinburgh area”.

Several specialists from the NCA’s Major Crime Investigative Support Unit were called in to assist with the investigation.

Forensic clinical psychologists, behavioral science investigative consultants, and interview consultants were involved in risk assessment and management and interview preparation.

The report does not indicate the outcome of the investigation or whether anyone was arrested or charged.

Organized crime is increasing

The NCA is the UK’s leading agency for combating organised crime, including people, arms and drug trafficking, as well as cybercrime and economic crime.

His involvement in Operation Ferulic is mentioned in a report to the board of the Scottish Police Authority, the organization that oversees policing in Scotland.

The document details the NCA’s activities in Scotland between October 2023 and March 2024.

It says it was involved in 276 investigations disrupting serious and organised crime in Scotland in 2023/24, an increase of 10% on the previous year.

Over the past six months, there have reportedly been 15 investigations with significant implications for criminal activity, including drugs, firearms and child sexual abuse.

According to the report, more than 100 officers from the NCA, Police Scotland and a regional organised crime unit in the south west of England executed 12 search warrants against members of organised crime groups in the greater Glasgow area.

This was part of a nationwide investigation into large-scale fraud targeting elderly and vulnerable victims, which saw seven people arrested on money laundering and fraud offences.

In December, the NCA supported a police operation in Scotland against modern slavery and human trafficking.

The investigation targeted an Eastern European criminal group operating north of the border and focused on the laundering of £500,000.

According to the report, the group is said to have brought vulnerable Romanian women aged 18 to the UK and forced them to work in brothels it controlled.

Another investigation targeted a fraudulent courier service involving 15 victims who lost £1.8 million. Four suspects were arrested.

The NCA’s Child Sexual Abuse Referrals Bureau has provided Scottish police with 707 reports of child sexual abuse on the internet.

Scottish police are said to have arrested 42 people and protected 69 children. A further 80 victims were identified from indecent images of children.

The NCA said it also raised the alarm after NHS Dumfries and Galloway was the target of a cyberattack in March.

Hackers stole three terabytes of data from the board’s IT system and later published it on the dark web, a part of the Internet that can only be accessed with special software.

The NCA said the attack was already at an advanced stage when its cybercrime unit shared “real-time intelligence” with the board and Police Scotland.

Scottish police have been asked for comment.