Drug trafficker who made £1.2m fortune to pay back just £1

A drug trafficker who made a £1.2m fortune from his life of crime will only pay £1 to settle a proceeds of crime action.

Henry McAulay, 28, was caught possessing heroin with a street value of £1m in December 2024.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how McAulay was caught after he drove into an industrial estate in Glasgow’s Mount Vernon in December 2024.

The 28-year-old initially told police he had “just three kilos of mixer” when asked if he had anything that could be harmful to officers.

They went on to first find in the Hyundai Tucson a mixture of caffeine and paracetamol – a substance known as ‘bash’ – used to bulk out drugs to maximise profits.

Police then discovered 23kg of heroin in a van rented by McAulay, parked in the yard as well as in a unit nearby.

Some of the class A consignments had a purity of up to 50% and had a potential value of £1,152,650.

A further 98kg of cannabis worth more than £170,000 was also seized.

Drugs are believed to have originally been trafficked in large tins of olives.

On Monday, it emerged that lawyers had agreed to settle a proceeds of crime action brought against McAulay by the Crown.

Prosecutor Bryan Heaney told Judge Alison Stirling that the action was now settled.

Judge Stirling was told that lawyers agreed that McAulay had made a total of £1.2m from his life of crime.

However, the court heard that the Crown were unable to recover any of that sum, and the court held that the recoverable sum was nil.

The court also heard that McAulay had agreed to pay £1 to the authorities to end the action.

McAulay, originally of Pollok, Glasgow, was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow in March this year by Judge Lord Mulholland. He was handed a custodial term of four years and eight months.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of being involved in serious organised crime during a hearing in Edinburgh.

Prosecutor Leanne Cross told the court last month: “This case arose as part of a large investigation by Police Scotland into a serious and organised crime group based in Glasgow.

“The group has international connections and is responsible for the importation, distribution and supply of large quantities of controlled drugs.”

Police had received information that drugs were at or near a unit at the east end yard.

Ms Cross said: “Within the unit, police officers could see approximately 50 opened large olive tins stacked against a wall to the left, a jet ski on a trailer on the back left and a black Audi motor car.”

She said there was a small office area “with a significant quantity of controlled drugs on open display”.

The prosecutor said the two mobile phones that were seized were analysed and found to contain conversations making arrangements to transport, store and distribute heroin and cannabis between September 6 and December 6, 2024.

She said: “Throughout those months, McAulay regularly discussed picking up and dropping off both drugs and cash.”

“There were regular references to ‘jackets’ or cannabis resin and ‘the nasty stuff’, meaning heroin.

“There was mention of kilos and half kilos, conversations around the preparation of the drugs and reference to the drugs being concealed within tins,” she said.

Other locations listed in the charge include addresses in Glasgow, Kilsyth and Cumbernauld, both in Lanarkshire, as well as Stirling.

Lord Mulholland told McAulay: “On your phone, you refer to heroin as the ‘nasty stuff’.

“You are right to do so, as it is a highly addictive drug that ruins the lives of users and their families, who struggle to deal with addiction.

“The amount you were caught trafficking would have caused untold damage – all for the pursuit of money.”

The jail term was cut from seven years due to the plea.

The Crown can return to court should it identify any of McAulay’s criminal assets.