police scotlandA Scottish gangster who masterminded a plot to smuggle £100million value of cocaine from South America in banana containers has been jailed for 20 years.
Jamie 'Iceman' Stevenson admitted directing the importation of the drug, which was seized by Border Force groups in Dover in September 2020.
The plot was uncovered after French police infiltrated an encrypted messaging platform utilized by criminals.
Stevenson additionally deliberate to flood Scotland with tens of millions of Etizolam tablets, also referred to as avenue Valium, from a manufacturing facility in Kent.
The 59-year-old, from Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, was a number one determine on the prime ranges of organized crime in Scotland.
He was as soon as described as Scotland's reply to Mafia boss Tony Soprano, portrayed within the tv collection The Sopranos. In 2022, he was included within the UK's 12 Most Wanted Persons record.
Last month Stevenson admitted his function within the manufacturing and provide of etizolam and the smuggling of a tonne of cocaine into the UK – which police estimate could be value £100 million on the streets.
Five different males – David Bilsland, 68; Paul Bowes, 53; Gerard Corbin, 45; Ryan McPhee, 34; and Lloyd Cross, 32, additionally pleaded responsible to critical organized crime and drug offences.
Corbyn was jailed for seven years; Bilsland, Bowes and Cross have been all jailed for six years; And McPhee was jailed for 4 years.
Lewis Connor, 27, was jailed for 3 years in July after an investigation discovered encrypted cellphone messages which proved he set fireplace to properties and automobiles throughout central Scotland.
The medication operation, which spanned the UK, Spain, Ecuador and Abu Dhabi, was focused by police in an investigation codenamed Operation Pepperoni.
Officers have been investigating experiences that Glasgow fruit dealer Bilsland had hyperlinks to organized crime. After this he was seen assembly Stevenson in a resort in Spain.
Around the identical time, authorities found that Stevenson was concerned in establishing a manufacturing facility in Kent that was producing tens of millions of Etizolam tablets.
police scotlandIn June 2020 the manufacturing facility was raided and Stevenson was arrested in Glasgow.
The police took him to England earlier than he was launched on bail. He then fled Britain and spent nearly two years on the run earlier than being arrested within the Netherlands.
The National Crime Agency stated Stevenson continued to direct the importation of cocaine into Britain from abroad.
Prosecutor Alex Prentice Casey earlier instructed the court docket that messages on the encrypted cellphone community EncroChat confirmed Stevenson discussing a plan to import kilo blocks of cocaine with Cross, in addition to utilizing Bilsland to offer “an appearance of legality”. Is.
A tonne of the drug was seized in a raid carried out by Border Force groups in Dover in September 2020.
They discovered 119 packages of cocaine hidden in banana containers from Ecuador, which have been destined for Glasgow. It took three days for authorities to get better the medication from the cargo.
Defense lawyer Thomas Ross Casey instructed the court docket that Stevenson knew precisely what he was doing and made “many bad decisions”, the motivation for which was clear.
“He takes ownership of all those decisions and doesn't try to put the blame on anyone else,” he stated.
crown workplaceWith inputs from BBC
