Prosecutors seize £13,000 from drug dealer who made £1m selling cannabis

Prosecutors have seized more than £13,000 from a drug dealer who made more than £1m from supplying cannabis.

Steven Clark, 43, was jailed for three and a half years for his involvement in the narcotics trade after proceedings at the High Court in Glasgow in 2023.

Judge Lord Arthurson also jailed his accomplice Sean Imlach, then aged 53, for three years and nine months for his role in the racket.

On that occasion, the court heard how detectives raided the warehouse of Aberdeen Blast Cleaning Services on Hillview Road on February 12, 2022. Detectives discovered a number boxes at the site filled with 56kg of the class B drug.

Clark stated to detectives: “How did you know about this delivery? Have you been watching? There are four boxes of weed, it’s mine. I am going to jail. To be honest, I have had enough of all this. Will this affect my business. Can I plead guilty now?”

Prosecutor William Frain-Bell said the drugs had a potential value of £940,925. A further £70,000 in cash was discovered in a bag in a van.

Imlach was also later held for his involvement after being stopped behind the wheel of a Ford Transit. Both men, of Aberdeen, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis.

Clark’s lawyer Kenneth Cloggie said: “He played a link in the chain of the wholesale supply in relation to this venture which was very ill thought out by him. He realised that he was very much in way above his head.”

David Moggach, defending Imlach, told the court: “This was later in life that he became involved in a crime of this nature. He was out of his depth.”

Lord Arthurson said the jail term for both would have been five years, but for the guilty pleas.

He told them: “You each played a significant role in a drug trafficking operation on a major scale.”

On Monday, prosecutors and defence lawyers agreed to settle a proceeds of crime action which had been brought against Clark at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Judge Lady Ross heard that lawyers had agreed that Clark’s benefit to his involvement in the drugs trade amounted to £1,273,275.50.

However, prosecutors could only recover a total of £13,998.21 from Clark at this point in time. The Crown can return to court if it discovers and identifies further criminal assets belonging to Clark and it can seek an order forcing him to hand over the ill gotten gains.

Lady Ross gave the go ahead for £13,998.21 to be handed over.