Edinburgh Inch gang arm themselves with 40 missing Mac 10s

Gangs involved in a bitter feud on the streets of Edinburgh have armed themselves with machine guns, it was claimed today.Criminals from the north of Edinburgh have allegedly got their hands on a machine gun, believed to date from the Second World War, as well as ammunition. In turn, the gang – who are involved in the heroin and cocaine trade – are said to be fearful of reports that their rivals in the Inch area have acquired a Mac 10, an automatic weapon.Police today would not comment on the allegations. The Metropolitan Police has been searching for 40 missing Mac 10s used in a string of killings across Britain in the wake of last month's jailing of a gunsmith who sold converted models. The guns are notoriously difficult to acquire in gangland circles and are rarely seen in Scotland.The two gangs in the Capital have been locked in battle for around a year. Both sides are already believed to have pistols and shotguns in their arsenal, but reports of heavier weaponry being available have sparked fears of escalating violence.The north Edinburgh gang are also being linked to Afro-Caribbean "Yardies" from the Wolverhampton area. Sources say weapons were brought north to the city recently as the gang sought to prepare itself for further conflict.The young criminals, most in their late teens or early 20s, have been feuding with a drug kingpin and his cohorts based in The Inch. Worried gang members are believed to have held a "crisis meeting" recently and have moved to recruit other young dealers from surrounding areas, such as Lochend and Leith, to their ranks.The Inch gang boss is thought to control much of the city's supply of cocaine, with ambitions to become a figure like the former Glasgow gangster Paul Ferris. Sources say he uses gunmen on motorbikes to settle scores and further cement his dominance of the drug trade. He is said to be considering buying into a private hire cab company in Edinburgh, to help launder drug cash.Sources say the north Edinburgh gang are "loose cannons" but they are "afraid" of what their rivals are capable of. One source said: "They have heard that this gang has a Mac 10. It's frightening if that's the case."It is not known how the criminals managed to acquire the machine gun, which is believed to more than 60 years old. "I know folk are getting worried about getting in the crossfire because these weapons wouldn't be very accurate," added the source.Gunsmith Grant Wilkinson, converted 90 replica Mac 10s machine guns into weapons that have been linked to at least eight murders in the UK. Police have recovered 50 but have failed to locate the rest despite offering a reward of £400,000 – £10,000 per gun. The Mac 10 fires 33 rounds in less than two seconds and at less than a foot long, is easily concealed.

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George Buchanan - Edinburgh's No.1 drugs baron.

George Buchanan - Edinburgh's No.1 drugs baron.The pug-faced body-builder keeps his sinister occupation secret from his middle-class neighbours in the upmarket estate of Gilbertstoun.But the father of two is to blame for most of the heroin, Ecstasy, hash and speed sold in city housing schemes such as Craigmillar, where he was brought up.Police sources yesterday confirmed Buchanan - known as Dode - commands the city's drugs underworld.But repeated attempts by drug squad officers to end cunning Buchanan's criminal career have ended in failure.More than £90,000 in cash was found in his home during Lothian andBorders Police's Operation Foil purges four years ago. Tests found traces of drugs on the notes.But furious detectives were forced to return the cash when a businessman claimed the money was his savings which Buchanan had been keeping for him.An earlier raid at Buchanan's previous home in Lochend, Edinburgh, uncovered another £30,000 in cash.But again, slippery Buchanan got the money returned when a relative claimed it was the proceeds from selling her home.Buchanan, 46, first came to the police's attention when he was a young thug growing up in Niddrie and Craigmillar.Hewas jailed for eight years in 1974 for the attempted murder of a gang rival when he was a member of the infamous Niddrie Terror street gang.In jail, Buchanan developed a passion for bodybuilding and by the time he was released the once-skinny thug had been transformed in to a muscle-bound heavyweight. One former detective said: "He was a wee nyaff before he went inside."But that all changed when he was released and he tapped in to the growing drugs market. He soon became a name to be reckoned with."In June 1987, Buchanan was jailed for 12 years after a jury found him guilty of being involved in the second biggest ever heroin haul found in Edinburgh.Officers who burst in to a house in Stockbridge found him in bed with the wife of his lieutenant, Raymond Smith.While officers detained Buchanan, Smith was being pursued in a high-speed car chase in which he almost killed young children in his desperate bid to escape.When arrested, Smith refused to co-operate - until it was pointed out by detectives that his boss had been caught in bed with hiswife.His evidence sent Buchanan away for 12 years - but not before Smith was repeatedly stabbed and almost died in an attack the night before the trial was due to start.In the same court, Buchanan was convicted of supplying heroin while he was a prisoner in Barlinnie Prison's special unit.But he was cleared of firearms offences and of a plot to rob Edinburgh jewellers of pounds 30,000.Ever the gentleman, on his way down to the cells Buchanan spat at the jury, for which he received a further sentence.Buchanan has never put in a proper day's work in his life but lives with wife Marie in a smart, £250,000 detached villa at Gilbertstoun, near Portobello.Naturally, the house is in his wife's name because Buchanan is careful not to have any identifiable assets that could be seized by the authorities.The cunning criminal is ultra-cautious in guarding his movements and even uses different vehicles depending on his purpose.When he visits his old stamping ground of Craigmillar and the other housing estates, Buchanan prefers to drive an old L- reg Volvo 440, swapping itfor a top-of-the-range Range Rover with private registration DDD 74 when he visits the gym.Known to have links to west of Scotland drug barons, Buchanan is a regular visitor to Glasgow to arrange consignments.When he is not visiting his mistress, who lives just yards from St Leonard's police station in Edinburgh, Buchanan can be spotted visiting a sauna in York Place and it is thought that he is planning to invest his ill-gotten gains in prostitution.A senior detective said: "George Bell Cowan Buchanan is one of the most active drug dealers in Edinburgh."He spreads misery in the housing estates which are in walking distance from the cosy existence that he lives out in Gilbertstoun.
"He is a nasty piece of work and it is only a matter of time before he reaps what he has sown."He has had a few lucky escapes but his luck will run out one of these days."

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