Drug couriers caught with £6m high-purity cocaine sent to jail
TWO drug couriers caught with almost £6 million of high-purity cocaine have each been jailed for 10 years. David Murdoch, 56, and Graham McCulloch, 39, were caught last May following a large-scale cross border police probe.
The sophisticated operation involved secret hidden compartments in vehicles to hide drugs and the use of a GPS tracker commonly used by crime mobs.
The pair – who appeared via video-link – were sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow.
Murdoch, of Linwood, and McCulloch, of Airdrie, earlier pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine between October 11, 2019 and May 19, last year.
They also admitted to a charge under the Proceeds of Crime Act of possessing more than half a million pounds in cash.
Lady Stacey told them: “Couriers are essential as, otherwise, the drugs do not get to where they are intended.
“Anyone involved who travels up and down from London to Scotland plays a vital part.
“I am going to impose heavy sentences due to the time and amount involved.”
The judge said the jail term would have been 15 years each, but for the guilty pleas.
The pair were both with threeyear Serious Crime Prevention Orders designed to tackle and
restrict criminals when they are freed from prison.
Prosecutor Paul Kearney told an earlier hearing: “They accept being engaged in... the transporting and delivering of very large quantities of cocaine as well as the means of payment for the consignments.
“On the final two days, one of these consignments of cocaine – weighing 59 kilos – plus £409,595 and 289,500 in Euros were recovered from the car and van being used by them.
responsibility and cash
“They accept joint for the drugs seized.”
Detailing how they were caught, Mr Kearney said the Metropolitan Police got a tip off last May 12.
A Mercedes van driven by Murdoch and McCulloch as passenger was tailed from central London to Surrey then Scotland.
A week later it was tracked again as Murdoch was clocked dropping off heavy bags at different addresses in London before meeting up with McCulloch at a hotel car park in Kent.
They were eventually stopped by police on the A74 at Ecclefechan, Dumfries-shire last May 19. Murdoch was driving a van and McCulloch a BMW car.
When Murdoch’s vehicle was searched, it had a hidden area in the back which was operated by a hydraulic system.
Police found inside 43 blocks of cocaine weighing 52kg.
There was a further seven kilogrammes of the drug in the BMW as well as well as the cash.
The maximum value of the cocaine was between £4,720,000 and £5,900,000.
After being arrested, Murdoch stated: “What’s the difference between supplying and couriering it up?”
Mobile phones were also examined – Murdoch said in one message: “Like the extra money and thrill.”
Murdoch’s lawyer Tony Lenehan said the lorry driver’s “line of work made him attractive” to those behind the drugs and he got involved due to “weakness”.
Geoffrey Forbes, defending McCulloch, told the court: “His wife had been made redundant, he was tempted by this, but had no idea of the scale of it.
“These were two men leading ordinary lives beforehand... a stupid decision to get involved in this.”
Murdoch faces a further hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act in April in Edinburgh.