ONE of America’s best-watched morning news shows listed Scotland and the UK as two separate entities during a story on an international crime sting.

Good Morning America, which airs on ABC and brings in nearly 3.5 million viewers daily, ran a news piece on Operation Trojan Shield – a worldwide sting which saw more than 800 arrests take place.

Presenter Pierre Thomas explained that the operation involved “16 nations, using an encrypted communications platform called ANOM developed by the FBI”.

The National:

He listed those nations as Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and United States.

“ANOM was a communication app installed on phones that allowed law enforcement to see exactly what the bad guys were planning,” explained Thomas. “From Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the US, officials targeted crime gangs who traffic in drugs and arrange executions.

"£148 million dollars in cash and crypto-currencies confiscated along with hundreds of firearms and more than 50 luxury cars seized. A stunning 32 tonnes of cocaine and other drugs also confiscated.”

At a news conference in The Hague, the assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, described the operation as a “shining example of what can be accomplished when international law enforcement partners from around the world work together”.