Glasgow's notorious Daniel, Lyons and McGovern crime clans are expected to be at the top of the crime league.

Glasgow's notorious Daniel, Lyons and McGovern crime clans are expected to be at the top of the crime league.Senior officers hope that the list, along with the new tough sentences announced by the Scottish Government for professionals who handle gangsters' assets, will give them more tools than ever before to bring down the lords of the underworld.The head of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, Deputy Chief Constable Gordon Meldrum, is behind the list. He said: "We've never had the A to Z, the Who's Who of organised crime."This will be like the FBI list to a certain extent. It focuses on the criminals who pose the greatest risk."The ranking should be based on threat, risk and harm to communities."If we have a better understanding of how organised crime actually works, we'll be better placed to decide which group should be next for our attention."The new approach is inspired by a Harvard University study in the 70s which helped the FBI take on the five big Mafia families in New York.The Harvard experts told the Feds to stop targeting individual gangsters and go after their networks instead. And Mr Meldrum reckons a similar idea could work in Scotland.He believes the most wanted list could give his agency a whole new focus. Rather than measuring their success by the amount of drugs and cash they seize, they could focus on "dismantling and bankrupting" the worst gangs in the league table.

Likely targets include the Daniel clan, led by 50-year-old Jamie Daniel, who are involved in every racket from drug-dealing to protection.The Daniels' bitter rivals, the Lyons crime family, could also feature highly.And the drug-dealing McGovern gang could also be among the notorious crooks in the cops' sights.

The list is also likely to feature the south-east Asian gangs behind the rise in the number of cannabis factories in Scotland, and the thugs from eastern Europe who smuggle women into the country for the vice trade.All eight police forces in Scotland are involved in preparing the list, along with experts from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research.Mr Meldrum revealed his plan as Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill was announcing new offences of directing, involvement in or failing to report serious organised crime.The offences will carry a maximum jail term of 14 years, and enable the authorities to crack down harder on the "legitimate" businessmen and professionals who help the crooks.

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