Father and son arrested after drugs seized at Edinburgh Airport

A father and son from Bathgate have been charged after
Kratom, a new psychoactive substance with a street value of £60,000 was seized
by Border Force.

Kratom is a controlled substance under the New Psychoactive
Substances Act 2016. It is traditionally grown in south-east Asia and used as a
stimulant with opioid-like properties.

Organised Crime Partnership officers arrested the two men, aged 60 and 38, in Bathgate on Tuesday after Kratom was recovered at Edinburgh Airport on 15 April and East Midlands Airport on 6 May.

The seizures were part of a joint National Crime Agency and
Police Scotland investigation.

NCA Scotland operations manager John McGowan said: “We
estimate these seizures would have had a combined value of around £60,000 once
sold on the black market.

“Kratom is a dangerous drug and working with partners
like Police Scotland and Border Force, we are determined to do all we can to
prevent such substances making it on to our streets and damaging the
communities of Scotland.”

Murdo MacMillan, deputy director of Border Force Scotland,
said: “These seizures have taken a large amount of dangerous psychoactive
substances out of the hands of organised criminals and off our streets.”

The men have both been released and will appear in court on
a later date.