Three men appear in court charged with drugs offences in Galashiels

It follows proactive work by the newly-formed community action policing team who noticed suspicious activity in the Croft Street area of Galashiels on Monday afternoon.

James Archibald, 44, of Midlothian, is charged with possession of controlled drugs with intention to supply and possession of a knife.

Twenty-six-year old Harrison Long from Galashiels, is accused of being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs, possession with intent to supply and possession of controlled drugs.

Michael Walkingshaw, 25, from Loanhead, faces charges of possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply and possession of controlled drugs as well as attempting to pervert the course of justice.

All three made no plea when they appeared on petition at Jedburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday afternoon and their cases were continued for further examination.

Archibald and Walkingshaw were granted bail while Long was remanded in custody by Sheriff Peter McCormack.

The new Scottish Borders Community Action Team, which has been working since the start of April, was unveiled on Monday by Scottish Borders Council which is helping to fund the scheme through a £282,000 investment.

The seven-strong group includes six constables and a sergeant to target issues such as anti-social behaviour and illegal parking.

Officers from the Scottish Borders CAT detained a group of men in a car park on Croft Street after witnessing suspicious activity.

Searches were carried out including a car, and a quantity of heroin, cannabis and a knife were recovered.

A further search was carried out of a house in Croft Street and further cannabis and drugs paraphernalia were seized.

The three men were arrested and kept in custody to appear at Jedburgh Sheriff Court.

Chief Inspector Andy McLean, local area commander for the Scottish Borders, said:”These arrests demonstrate the breadth of work that the CAT are dealing with.

“In their first few weeks of deployment they have issued more than 90 parking tickets and now removed several thousand pounds’ worth of drugs from our communities and reported suspects in connection with these seizures.

“Both these matters are ones that local people are particularly concerned with and I’m really pleased that the team are proving their worth immediately.”