VETS OWNER IS DRUGS KINGPIN
£23k coke stash and £49k of hash are found in raid
A GANGSTER has been unmasked as a drug kingpin after being caught with cocaine and cannabis at his vet practice.
Scott Bennett was brought to justice after using his Platinum Pet Care vet business as a base for drug dealing.
A swoop by police on the practice in Strathaven, Lanarkshire, uncovered his part in a drugs empire, using the encrypted EncroChat phone system and codename Original Syrup to run his affairs.
Last October’s raid resulted in cocaine worth £23,000 and cannabis of £49,250 found. It could be the tip of the iceberg.
Bennett, 41, pled guilty at the
High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, weeks after his vet’s practice announced it would be making a major expansion in central Scotland.
The raid came after stories in the Daily Record told of his drug dealing past and the way he rode roughshod over planning controls – erecting huge kennels for dog breeding at his farmhouse home in Chapelton, to the fury of local residents.
The High Court heard how detectives discovered a phone that their forensic team found to be packed with incriminating evidence of drug dealing.
Detectives discovered he owed tens of thousands of
pounds to other suspected major dealers.
The EncroChat app used by Bennett was popularised by gangsters across Europe who used it to conduct their business – until it was cracked by law enforcement agencies.
It has led to drug gangs running hundreds of millions of pounds of narcotics deals being put out of business.
Prosecutor Angela Gray told judge Lord Mulholland how the EncroChat messages sent by Bennett had been studied by specialist drugs detectives who are called STOP officers.
She added: “For example, there is reference to Original Syrup owing £53,000 to
somebody called Landcleaner. There is another conversation were Original Syrup offers cocaine for £40,000 and Original Syrup advises another user that he is in a deficit of £50,000.”
She said there was a conversation in which Bennett states he owes more than 17 “balls”, and STOP officers have said a ball was equivalent to one ounce of cocaine, worth £1600.
All 17 balls meant 476g of cocaine, worth £27,200.
Bennett pled guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and cannabis between March 2020 and October 2021.
He also admitted that his actions were aggravated by
a connection to serious organised crime.
In December last year, police launched an investigation after Bennett’s business in Strathaven was firebombed.
The court heard Bennett had previous convictions for fraud, robbery, possession with intent to supply cannabis, possessing cocaine, possessing a knife, plus assault to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
Ms Gray said the Crown would want the court to impose a serious organised crime prevention order.
Lord Mulholland deferred sentence until August 23 for reports but told Bennett: “You will be remanded in custody.”