Pair caught with cocaine worth nearly £6m near Ecclefechan

Two drug couriers were caught bringing cocaine with a maximum street value of almost £6m into Scotland.

David Murdoch, 56, of Linwood, and Graham McCulloch, 39, of Airdrie, were stopped by police on the A74(M) in southern Scotland in May last year.

They admitted being concerned in supplying the drug in London, Kent and Ecclefechan in Dumfriesshire.

At the High Court in Glasgow, they were remanded in custody and sentence was deferred to 4 February.

They also pled guilty to having hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash in their possession.

The court heard that Murdoch was driving a van and McCulloch a BMW car when they were stopped by police near Ecclefechan on 19 May last year.

Prosecutor Paul Kearney said: "The accused accept that they each engaged in a course of conduct which involved the transporting and delivering of very large quantities of cocaine and the means of payment for the consignments.

"On the final two days of that period, one of these consignments of cocaine, weighing 59 kg, plus £409,595 and €289,500 were recovered from the car and van being used by them.

"They accept joint responsibility for the drugs and cash seized."

The maximum value of the cocaine, which was of high purity, was between £4,720,000 and £5,900,000.

The court was told that a tip-off to the Metropolitan Police put them on the trail of the pair.

They were put under surveillance and their operations tracked in London, Kent and Surrey before ultimately being stopped in Scotland.

When the van being driven by Murdoch was searched it was found to have a hidden area at the back where about 52kg (115lbs) of cocaine was concealed.

A search of the BMW found about 7kg (15lbs) of the drug and a suitcase containing hundreds of thousands of pounds and euros.

Defence counsel Tony Lenehan said: "Mr Murdoch is a professional lorry driver and the two of them were recruited to courier the drugs.

"Mr Murdoch made about eight trips south of the border."

Judge Lady Stacey deferred sentence on the two men for background reports.