Drug courier ordered to pay back £21,000 in crime profits

A drugs courier who smuggled cocaine worth almost £6m into Scotland has been ordered to pay back the profit of his crimes.

Earlier this year, David Murdoch, 57, and Graham McCulloch, 40, pled guilty to supplying drugs and both were sentenced to 10 years in prison.

On Friday, a confiscation order for £21,248.24 was granted against Murdoch at the High Court in Edinburgh.

McCulloch was previously ordered to pay back more than £246,000.

The pair came to the attention of police after an intelligence-led operation between Police Scotland and the Metropolitan Police in May 2020.

Officers followed them as they drove from Scotland to London to pay for, and pick up, drugs.

The pair, driving a van and a BMW car, were intercepted at a service station in Ecclefechan.

In the van, police found 43 blocks of cocaine weighing 52 kilos hidden in a specially built “hide” operated with a hydraulic system.

In the BMW, there were five blocks of cocaine and a suitcase full of sterling and Euro notes, totalling £409,595 and 289,500 euros (£243,000).

The cocaine, if cut up for sale, had a street value of about £5,900,000.

Jennifer Harrower, Procurator Fiscal for Specialist Casework, said: “These men brought a huge amount of harmful drugs across the border into Scotland, intending to sell them onto the streets.

“We are determined to disrupt serious and organised crime.

“These confiscation orders show that not only will COPFS (Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service) prosecute those involved in serious organised crime, but we will also make sure they pay back the profits of those crimes.

“These funds will be added to those already gathered from Proceeds of Crime and will be re-invested in Scottish communities through the CashBack for Communities programme.”