Fifteen people have been arrested in connection with immigration offences during a two-week long operation at ferry terminals in south-west Scotland.

As part of Operation Lockstream, officers focused on Loch Ryan Port and Cairnryan Port, both located near Cairnryan village in Dumfries and Galloway.

The multi-agency operation targeted organised immigration crime across the country.

During their two weeks at the Scottish ports, officers spoke to 340 people and arrested 15 people aged between 20 and 54.

Both ports are located on Loch Ryan, but have different ferry operators with Stena Line providing sailings to and from Belfast and P&O with Larne.

One man aged 55 was arrested in connection with facilitating immigration while four people were subjected to police warning for drug offences and 11 road policing offences were also detected.

A 36-year-old man was also arrested and charged in connection with drug offences after officers recovered drugs with an estimated value of £950 along with a quantity of cash and an offensive weapon.

Police Scotland said it had worked closely with partners from the National Police Chief's Council (NPCC), Home Office Immigration Enforcement, His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, The Intellectual Property Office and Scottish Environmental Protection Agency.

Det Supt Steven Bertram said: "We are committed to protecting vulnerable individuals and those at risk from organised immigration crime.

"Criminals will use the road, rail and ports to move people, assets and commodities and will look for every opportunity to exploit potential weaknesses.

"By carrying out action like this we are reducing criminal activity and making it harder for organised crime groups to operate."