Drugs with a street value of £3m have been seized by police in a series of raids across central Scotland.

Specialist officers targeted five organised crime groups seizing record amounts of heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, cannabis and fake prescription pills.

Police swooped on their targets over a nine-day period in early December, leading to the arrest of 18 people.

Drugs with a street value of £2.7m were found at one location in Glasgow along with the discovery of a sophisticated mobile drugs laboratory in the back of a van.

Detective chief superintendent Gerry McLean, head of Police Scotland's Organised Crime and Counter-Terrorism Unit, said: "This series of raids represents a considerable success for Police Scotland in its endeavours to reduce the activities of some of the most dangerous organised crime groups in Scotland.

"These criminals only care about themselves and their profits and they have to be stopped.

"As a result of these operations, we are reducing the availability of hard drugs to the Scottish public."

He added: "Police Scotland works hard to build trust with communities to encourage people to come forward.

"One small piece of information about an address or a vehicle or a person can be what makes all the difference in an investigation which could result in the unravelling of one of these gangs."