Couriers caught near Ecclefechan with drugs worth nearly £6m jailed

Two drug couriers caught with cocaine with a maximum street value of almost £6m have been jailed.

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

They both admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine between October 2019 and May 2020.

Judge Lady Stacey said she would impose "heavy sentences" and jailed them for 10 years each.

The pair also admitted a charge under the Proceeds of Crime Act of possessing more than £500,000 in cash.

They were caught near Ecclefechan in Dumfries and Galloway last May following a large-scale, cross-border police investigation.

Their sophisticated operation involved using secret hidden compartments in vehicles to conceal drugs.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Lady Stacey told them: "Couriers are essential as, otherwise, the drugs do not get to where they are intended.

"Anyone involved who travels up and down from London to Scotland plays a vital part.

"I am going to impose heavy sentences due to the time and amount involved."

The judge said their jail terms would have been 15 years each, but for their guilty pleas.

The pair were both given three-year Serious Crime Prevention Orders designed to tackle and restrict criminals when they are freed from prison.

Murdoch's lawyer, Tony Lenehan, said the lorry driver's line of work made him "attractive" to those behind the drugs and he had got involved due to "weakness".

Geoffrey Forbes, defending McCulloch, told the court: "His wife had been made redundant, he was tempted by this, but had no idea of the scale of it."

He said the two men had been leading ordinary lives before making the "stupid decision" to get involved.

Murdoch faces a further hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act in April in Edinburgh.