Snared after DNA is found on cash stash
DAVE FINLAY
A member of one of Scotland’s major crime gangs was caught by police after a raid at an industrial unit in East Kilbride.
Joseph Lindsay was caught after cops found his DNA inside a lorry at the unit on Dixon Place in January 2017.
Officers uncovered traces of the 34-year-old on elastic bands used to bundle up over £95,000 of dirty money found stashed inside the flatbed Iveco lorry.
Appearing at the High Court in Edinburgh last week, Lindsay admitted being involved in serious organised crime between August 25 and December 23 in 2015, and again on January 30 in 2017.
Court heard how Lindsay, formerly of Blantyre, was traced in Tenerife by Spanish police before being brought back by Scottish police on January 10 this year.
Advocate depute Lindsey Dalziel told the court the case arose out of a police investigation into a Scottish organised crime group (OCG) known to use violence and guns to enforce its activities.
She told the court that after Lindsay’s DNA was sourced on the elastic bands that a European arrest warrant was issued for him and he was traced and detained by the Guardia Civil in December last year.
Ms Dalziel added: “The OCG is the most sophisticated group encountered by Police Scotland.
“Joseph Lindsay is a member of the OCG and was seen on several occasions meeting with other members. Their operation centres on the importation of vast quantities of controlled drugs. #
“Their role is as wholesalers to other organised crime groups. They are at the top of the chain in terms of drugs transactions in Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole.
“In addition to controlled drugs, the OCG are involved in firearms trafficking in order to violently enforce their own operation and in order to supply their client crime groups.”
Ms Dalziel said the gang used industrial premises and vehicles through fake identities and during a search of the Dixon Place unit, police found a flatbed Iveco lorry with a hiding place for large sums of cash.
Defence solicitor advocate Graeme Brown told the court that Lindsay had consented to his extradition from Tenerife after he was detained.
He told the judge, Lord Beckett, that Lindsay had never previously served a prison sentence.
The judge remanded Lindsay in custody and called for the preparation of a background report ahead of sentencing.
Lindsay was served with papers to begin confiscation proceedings against him in a bid to seize crime profits.
Following the case last week, Detective Inspector Martin McGhee welcomed Lindsay’s conviction.
He told the News: “His offending was uncovered during Operation Escalade, our ongoing investigation targeting one of this country’s top-tier organised crime groups.
“Despite having fled the UK to evade prosecution, our partnerships with national and international law enforcement and prosecution agencies led to his quick identification, arrest and extradition from Spain.
“This demonstrates our resolve to tackle serious organised crime and the blight it causes to our communities. It reinforces the message that no criminal is untouchable, even those who flee and base themselves abroad to avoid prosecution.”