Dealer had cocaine hidden in pigeon loft

Court told seizure was worth over £200k

A drug dealer was last week jailed after police discovered kilogrammes of high purity cocaine in a safe hidden in a Raploch pigeon loft.

Craig Lafferty, 24, was stopped by police in Stirling earlier this year because of intelligence linking him to drug supply in the area and his apparent use of an allotment to store cocaine.

Police inquiries discovered more than £200,000 worth of cocaine linked to Lafferty.

He was detained on March 14 after he was spotted driving a VW Golf and told an officer: “I’ve got 726 grams of Charlie in the car.”

A carrier bag was found in the vehicle’s footwell containing almost that amount of 75 per cent pure cocaine.

Police armed with search warrants then went to his home in Craighall Street, in Stirling, and to pigeon huts near Hawthorn Crescent.

Advocate depute Mark McGuire told the High Court in Edinburgh: “Within one of the huts a safe was found to have been cemented into the ground and concealed under flooring.”

A key taken from Lafferty was used to open the safe and officers found two-kilogramme blocks of cocaine inside, which were 81 and 82 per cent purity.

“An examination of Lafferty’s mobile phone revealed `tick lists’ and text messages which suggested that he had been supplying gram deals of cocaine for £80 a time since September 1, 2018,” said the prosecutor.

Mr McGuire said the haul of cocaine was estimated by specialist drug officers to be worth £217,440 to Lafferty.

Lafferty admitted being concerned in the supply of the Class A drug between September 1 last year and March 14 this year when he appeared in court.

Mr McGuire said a police constable on routine patrol in Stirling initially stopped and detained Lafferty after seeing him driving on Hawthorn Crescent in Stirling.

The prosecutor said: “The officer was aware of intelligence linking the accused to the supplying of controlled drugs in the Stirling area and his apparent use of an allotment in Hawthorn Crescent to store drugs.

“Given his awareness of that intelligence and the proximity of the accused to the suspected stash site, he stopped the accused’s vehicle,” he said.

He said Lafferty’s fingerprints were found on the bag containing cocaine recovered from the car he was driving.

Defence solicitor advocate Ian

Bryce said a background report would be required on Lafferty ahead of sentencing.

He asked the judge, Lord Burns, to continue his bail and said he has not come to the attention of the police since March. The lawyer added: “He has made efforts to try to resolve this matter from an early stage.”

Mr Bryce said: “He is in no misunderstanding as to the outcome in this case.”

But the judge said the amount and purity of the cocaine was high and remanded him in custody before sentencing at the High Court in Glasgow next month.