An extensive newspaper investigation into the drugs trade in Scotland led to a series of armed police raids on Friday.

The Courier, Dundee, ran a four-day investigation last week under the general heading ‘Drowning in Drugs.’

Reporters identified a flat on a residential street in Dundee where drugs were being openly sold in broad daylight through a ground floor window.

Following the newspaper’s story, police obtained warrants and raided that flat and four other properties in the city where drug dealing was suspected.

The Courier featured the raids in a dramatic front page headlined ‘Crackdown’ while inside pages saw a further report by reporter Martin Dalziel on how easy it is to buy drugs on the Courier’s patch.

Over the course of the investigation, Courier reporters also discovered that addicts are receiving almost £7m a year in benefits in the Tayside and Fife areas because their addictions qualify them as disabled or otherwise unfit to work.

Courier journalists Stefan Morkis and Jack McKeown worked together on the investigation.

Stefan said: “Drugs are a problem that affects everyone in the country. We realise our investigation offers no easy answers but we are glad to have cast some light on the issue.”

Jack added: “I was proud to have worked on a story that actually led to action being taken. Police said the raids sparked by our investigation disrupted the supply chain in the city.

“I think our series supplied a balanced look at an issue that affects virtually every town and city in Britain.”