Royal Marine Commandos jailed over £300k drugs operation

Two Royal Marine Commandos have been jailed over their involvement 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.

Broadfoot also used his position as an ammunitions storeman at HM Naval Base Faslane to try and sell live rounds.

He was sentenced to five years and three months at the High Court in Glasgow after he pled guilty to a charge of being involved in serious organised crime.

Bryant was jailed for for three years and nine months after he admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis.

Lady Stacey branded the crimes "disgraceful" and said the pair should be "absolutely ashamed" of themselves.

Broadfoot's 62-year-old father Ian was also sentenced for his part in the scheme.

He had pled guilty to producing and being concerned in the supply of cannabis as well as a charge under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Lady Stacey decided not to jail Ian Broadfoot and instead ordered him to carry out 225 hours of unpaid work as part of a 27-month community payback order.

Sentencing, Lady Stacey told Grant Broadfoot: "You were in the Royal Navy and you took advantage of that."

Addressing Bryant, she said: "In doing what you did - and the position that you held - it was a grave breach of trust.

"For a member of the Royal Navy, that is disgraceful."

The judge told Ian Broadfoot she had considered he had a role in caring for his wife and a young relative.

Lady Stacey told him: "You are getting a community payback order - but only just."

The court previously heard 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.

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.

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.

Police Scotland said the men had been brought to justice as part of Operation Venetic in which officers gained access to an encrypted phone service used by criminals.

Commandant General of the Royal Marines, Lt Gen Rob Magowan, said there had since been a "root and branch review" of the culture and operations at 43 Commando Royal Marines, and it had not found any wider issues.

He added: "There is no room for complacency, however, and every effort will be made to ensure that Royal Marines everywhere behave in accordance with the high standards society expects."