Environmental officers are looking to Italy to crack down on “McMafia” crime gangs who profit from illegal waste disposal in Scotland, MSPs have heard.
Holyrood’s justice committee was told the gangs use violence and intimidation to secure waste disposal contracts, cut corners and fiddle taxes.
Similar tactics are used by Mafia families in southern Italy.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is liaising with international police groups to combat the criminals.
One tax-dodging tactic used by Scottish gangs involves mixing low tax waste, which costs £2.50 a tonne to dispose of, with high tax waste costing £80 a tonne.
SEPA enforcement manager William Wilson said: “Italy has a well-entrenched problem with Mafia clans, particularly within the waste sector in the southern half of the country.
“They are anxious to do more in relation to that.”
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