Royal Marine Commandos admit £300k drugs operation

Two Royal Marine Commandos have admitted being involved in a £300,000 drugs operation.

Grant Broadfoot, 29, and Stuart Bryant, 31, were caught using a Ministry of Defence-owned van to transport cannabis from England to Scotland in June 2020.

The pair were arrested in Glasgow's Mount Vernon with 30 vacuum-sealed bags of drugs following a tip-off.

Grant Broadfoot's father and co-accused Ian Broadfoot, 62, pled guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis.

The High Court in Glasgow heard Grant Broadfoot also took advantage of his role as an ammunitions storeman to sell rounds from HM Naval Base Clyde to potential buyers using encrypted mobile phone chats.

He boasted that he could use his position in order to source ammunition and arrange transport using vehicles owned by the MoD.

Grant Broadfoot's accommodation on the Faslane site, near Helensburgh in Argyll and Bute, was raided and a variety of ammunition was recovered from a Tesco bag.

He pled guilty to being involved in serious organised crime, which included offering to supply cannabis as well as the purchase and supply of ammunition.

Stuart Bryant, of Galston, East Ayrshire, admitted producing cannabis and being concerned in its supply.

The crimes of both men took place between November 2019 and June 2020.

The court heard police were informed that drugs would be transported from England to Scotland by an MoD-owned Transit van on 3 June 2020.

The Transit van driven by Grant Broadfoot and a Renault van driven by Stuart Bryant stopped beside each other in Mount Vernon.

Prosecutor John McElroy said: "[Stuart] Bryant was seen standing at the rear side of the Transit and Grant Broadfoot was seen removing a black holdall from it to the rear of the Renault van."

His father Ian Broadfoot was sitting in the Renault.

A search of the Transit recovered 11 vacuum-sealed bags of cannabis while the Renault contained 19 bags.

Grant Broadfoot's then-home in Baillieston was raided and £27,370 of cash was found.

A search of his father's property in Mount Vernon recovered £21,030, a vacuum sealer machine and a bag of cannabis as well as other drug paraphernalia.

When questioned, Stuart Bryant told officers he was told to pick up "unknown" items near an MoD training camp in Merseyside in exchange for money.

He stated that Grant Broadfoot offered him cash to carry out the task.

Mr McElroy said the 30 bags recovered were valued at £114,000.

"The bag [from Ian Broadfoot's property]... has a value of approximately £1,000.

"The maximum financial community impact if all cannabis recovered was divided into street deals has the potential to realise approximately £301,820."

Grant Broadfoot's accommodation at Faslane was searched and a Tesco bag containing live ammunition and a large bullet was recovered.

It was revealed Grant Broadfoot conducted his operations using encrypted mobile chats.

Examples of his conversations were read to the court.

This included organising money drop-offs and drivers including Stuart Bryant.

Mr McElroy added: "In April 2020, Grant appears to be offering to supply ammunition.

"The significance being that he had access to ammunition at Faslane Naval due to his position as an ammunitions storeman."

He told one contact he had access to machine gun rounds, semi-automatic rounds and Glock rounds.

In May 2020, he told a contact "I have ministry of defence vans" and said that he "signs them out" when he needs them.

Stuart Bryant's conversations also revealed that he had "a much bigger role in transporting drugs" and was compared to notorious Colombian drugs lord Pablo Escobar by the contact.

Louise Arrol, defending Stuart Bryant, said he had impressive references from his time in the military but knew he would receive a custodial sentence.

John Scullion QC, defending Grant Broadfoot, made no motion for bail.

Allan Macleod, defending Ian Broadfoot, said his client was not involved in the drug exchange but "just happened to be there".

Sentence was deferred pending background reports until next month by judge Lady Stacey.

Grant Broadfoot, of Tollcross, and Stuart Bryant were remanded in custody while Ian Broadfoot was granted bail.