6 August 2012 Last updated at 06:57 ET Four people have been arrested after drugs with a street value of 3.5m were seized in raids in South Lanarkshire. Two men, aged 54 and 27, were held after cocaine, diamorphine and cannabis resin, worth 1,535,000, were found at a property in East Kilbride on Friday. A related raid in the town the following day recovered 240 kilos of cannabis resin worth 2m. A man, 31, and 34-year-old woman were arrested. All four people are expected to appear at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Monday. Officers acting under warrant conducted the first raid at a property in Galloway Road, East Kilbride, at about 15:25 on Friday. As part of the same operation, they searched a property in the town's Pembroke on Saturday. Det Supt Andy Gunn, of Strathclyde Police's major crime and terrorism investigation unit, said: "Without doubt, this operation shows those involved in organised crime that we are keeping people safe and we have the ways and means to catch them and far from being complacent we will, and are, actively targeting them and ensure that there is no hiding place." See more here: Drugs worth £3.5m seized in raids … Continue reading →

By NBC News staff and wire reports BEIJING -- Chinese police detained almost 2,000 people in a nationwide sweep on fake drugs, seizing more than $180 million worth of counterfeit products and destroying some 1,100 production facilities, the public security ministry said on Sunday. The operation, involving around 18,000 police officers, discovered fake or adulterated drugs purporting to deal with illnesses ranging from diabetes to high blood pressure and rabies, the ministry said in a statement on its website(link in Chinese). The suspects went so far as to advertise their drugs online, in newspapers and on television, and the drugs caused problems ranging from liver and kidney damage to heart failure, it added. "The criminals' methods were despicable and have caused people to boil with rage," the ministry said. On Sunday, the ministry released a statement saying it would offer rewards of up to $8,000 for any information about fake drug operations, The New York Times reported. Read more news from China on Behind The Wall The Chinese government has repeatedly promised to tighten regulatory systems after safety scandals involving fish, drugs, toys, toothpaste, children's clothes, tires, drugs and milk fortified with melamine, used in the manufacture of tabletops. But … Continue reading →

6 August 2012 Last updated at 02:59 ET A judge in Londonderry has banned the naming of three men accused of drugs charges because of safety concerns. District Judge Barney McElhom said criminal elements in the city had targeted suspects after using media reports to identify them. The three men, aged 44, 30 and 21, have been remanded in custody. They are charged in connection with the discovery of 150,000 of cannabis in a house and in a car at Blackthorn Manor in Derry on Friday. Mr McElhom imposed an anonymity order in relation to media reports on the hearing. Under the order the defendants names and addresses cannot be made public nor can the date of their next video link remand be reported. Mr McElhom said he had extensively researched the law and higher court rulings in relation to anonymity orders. In making the order the district judge said he did so under the European Court Right to Life legislation. He said he believed there was a risk to the defendants from certain criminal elements in society. He said in the past these elements used media reports to ascertain the identity of certain people and in this case the … Continue reading →