The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
‘Abhorrent’ drugs gang snared by police locked up for total of 26 years
Agang involved in a £400,000 drugs and dirty money operation have been jailed for a total of more than 26 years.
The seven-strong mob was snared by detectives who found hundreds of messages and photos linked to high-level dealing.
The drug trafficking occurred at locations in 2019, mainly in Dundee.
Dog breeder Richard Parvin, 38, from Motherwell, was handed the stiffest jail term by judge Lord Weir – seven years and four months.
He appeared for sentencing at the High Court in Glasgow with his accomplices from Dundee – Neil Brown, Francis Ross Sr, Craig Mitchell, Francis Ross Jr and John Cord.
George Mclean, 32, from Easterhouse in Glasgow, made up the gang, who all admitted their involvement at various levels of the scheme at an earlier appearance.
Brown, 34, was locked up for three years, Ross Sr, 47, for two years and 10 months and Mclean, for five years and five months.
Ross Jr, 22, was jailed for three-and-a-half years, with Mitchell, 30, and Cord, 34, each sentenced to 26 months.
In his sentencing remarks, the judge said the “abhorrent” operation could have “caused considerable damage in the wider community”.
Prosecutor Owen Mullan told last month’s hearing how the crew were watched as part of the Operation Boost police probe.
Parvin was stopped on May 8 2019 in a hired Vauxhall on the A90 Dundee to Perth road.
Some £12,550 of cash was seized, along with his phone.
He was later freed and began using another phone.
Mr Mullan said: “This was later seized and showed various images of blocks of cocaine, highvalue tick-lists and hundreds of messages that he was actively involved in the supply of controlled drugs.”
Photos of packages of cocaine embossed with logos of different wellknown companies were shown to the judge.
Messages from a Whatsapp group referred to large quantities of money, indicating a “very high level” of dealing.
Detectives went on to make a string of other drug busts linked to the investigation, including during a cocaine handover at Ross Jr’s home in Dundee after he was met by Mclean.
Police found £319,000 worth of the drug in a clothes shop bag, as well as £10,000 worth of heroin.
Ross Sr’s home in Dundee was also raided and a further £24,000 of heroin was discovered.
Brown meantime was linked to drugs found in a Peugeot 109 on May 29 2019 after two men were seen running from the vehicle in the city.
He had left his wallet in the car along with £2,120 worth of heroin, and a batch of street Valium pills were found.
Mitchell and Cord were held after an Audi A3 was seen repeatedly circling one of the raided properties during a search.
Mr Mullan said: “An examination of mobile phones used by Brown, Ross Jr, Mitchell and Cord... showed them to be in ‘round-robin’ communication discussing the supply of drugs.”
Mclean was held in
Easterhouse and police found £12,000 in cash, which he claimed was for a car.
Officers seized around £1,600 worth of heroin at two properties linked to him.
The hearing was told other drug-related items were discovered, including a hydraulic press and scales.
They were among 57 people arrested during an operation to combat the supply of class A controlled drugs in the Tayside area by organised criminals.
During the operation, between July and October 2018, heroin and cocaine with a street value of more than £380,000 was seized, along with £12,000 in cash.
Detective Chief Inspector Iain Mcphail, of Police Scotland’s Specialist Crime Division, said: “Following a complex investigation seven people are in jail.”