Police warn gang-led dial-a-booze services on the rise

So-called “dial-a-booze” services are operating throughout Scotland, especially in Glasgow.

The groups advertise online where they provide contact details and price lists for customers. They sell at significantly higher prices and operate outwith the legal period for selling alcohol – in Scotland it is an offence to sell alcohol between midnight and 6am.

But police are now actively targeting the gangs in undercover operations after the problem was highlighted as “an emerging issue” in a report.

Among the drinks sold are Buckfast, cider wine, spirits and MD 20/20 – all of which are sold for at least double the supermarket price.

While the illicit trade in alcohol has been operating for a number of years it was only last year that Police Scotland realised the severity of the problem when investigating an attempted murder at a property in Glasgow where dial-a-booze services had been used twice that evening.

Police are now working with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service(COPFS) to target the gangs, utilising proceeds of crime legislation to obtain their assets.

Speaking to STV News, chief inspector David Pettigrew, who is based at the London Road Police Office in Glasgow, said: “Dial a booze is essentially a trade name for a large number of these groups.

“It is the provision of alcohol to people out with legal licensing hours and conditions, may that be by phone or online contact, through for example, social media or through back door purchases at shop premises.

“You only have to look online to see how many outlets there are. It is a widespread problem and there are different levels of offender. You have your entrepreneur who will purchase large amounts of alcohol from a supermarket and sell it on at an inflated price.

“Then there are organised crime groups who buy large quantities of alcohol in bulk from cash and carries, and sometimes abroad, to sell on.

“These people have no regard for the age of the people they are selling to, how intoxicated they are, the conditions under which they are making the sale or the quantity of alcohol they are providing.

“These groups are often almost certainly involved in other criminal activities including drug dealing.”

Former chief constable of Police Scotland, Sir Stephen House wrote in his annual report to the Glasgow Licensing Board in December that the illegal alcohol trade was an “emerging issue in Scotland”.

Chief inspector Pettigrew added: “What brought it home to us was last year there was an attempted murder at a property where it transpired a so-called dial a booze service had delivered alcohol to twice that night.

“It has also been brought to our attention that a number of sex crimes have been reported at properties where these services had delivered to.

“We have now developed a plan to tackle this problem. Test purchasing operations in which children enter licensed premises to buy alcohol have been a regular feature for some time.”

He added: “However, we are now carrying out these test purchasing operations on ‘dial a booze’ services using police officers. They make the call and then collect a delivery.

“A number of provisions have to be put in place before we are able to do this, as they are essentially surveillance operations, but it is one aspect of what we are now doing to tackle the issue.

“We are also working in tandem with our colleagues at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in order to target these offences as lifestyle crimes.”

A Scottish government spokeswoman said: “This is an operational matter for Police Scotland, who work in partnership to agree local police priorities, and we welcome any action Police Scotland is taking to reduce violence in our communities. Licensing decisions are a matter for the local licensing board.”