TERRORISTS are shipping drugs to Scotland as part of a wider strategy to "undermine the west", it has been claimed.

Former Director General of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency Graeme Pearson has warned that a network of dealers in Europe now have links to insurgents.

Much of the supply comes from the Middle East, according to Mr Pearson, who is now a Scottish Labour MSP and the party's justice spokesman.

He said: "From the point of view of those who have a different view of the west, from a terrorist viewpoint, if you want to undermine the west, the key ways to do it would be through drugs.

"When you look at where the markets originate, in places like Iran, Iraq, ­Pakistan, Afghanistan, it is little wonder there is now growing concern about the terrorist background to some of the drug ­dealing we now face.

"It's a big profit to begin with - terrorists need money - but equally they're undermining the very thing we care about most, our young people. From their point of view, it's a win-win.

"Increasingly when you look at sources of our drugs, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, these are areas that we depend on for source and the people that allow it to happen are the terrorists.

"They've got a network of people throughout Europe and I don't think it's a mistake to acknowledge that some of the drug dealers that are arrested at major levels come from a terrorist background."

Mr Pearson believes specialist crime-fighters who are now based at the new Scottish Crime Campus (SCC) at Gartcosh will help tackle terrorists who send drugs to Scotland.

He said: "The presence of Gartcosh should help the strategic oversight because there are more agencies working together on the one site, sharing intelligence. We should get a better understanding of the trans-national linkages.

"Certainly, high value seizures have a big impact on the business but it's not about hammering the individual drug user and trying to criminalise them.

"It's about those that supply and those at the high end of the market who make ­profit out of it. That's where the strategic pressure should be."

Detective Chief Superintendent John Cuddihy is head of ­organised crime and counter-terrorism at Police Scotland.

He said: "The unit reflects the synergies between both worlds and there is continual read across in terms of those who engage in serious and organised crime and terrorism.

"If it is the case that the commodity is being used to generate funds in terms of terrorist-related activity we have a confidence that such information and intelligence will be shared between law enforcement agencies who will work together to reduce that threat, risk and harm in our communities and bring those responsible to justice, where organised criminals or terrorists."

peter.swindon@ eveningtimes.co.uk