Court seizes £91,000 from jailed drug dealer

A DRUG dealer who was jailed for three years after being caught making a large handover of cash has been ordered to surrender more than £91,000, prosecutors have revealed.

William Thomson, now 49, was snared after a surveillance operation near Glasgow almost five years ago.

One of the main subjects in a two-year investigation by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), he was observed by police who suspected he was about to receive a substantial quantity of drugs from an English associate.

On 25 October, 2006, Thomson was spotted handing over a holdall to the driver of a Peugeot car in Uddingston. Police later stopped the vehicle on the M74 near Bothwell, where they found the holdall containing more than 90,000 in cash.

The money recovered in the operation was later stolen by a police production keeper.

Robert Moffat, now a former member of the police support staff, was subsequently found guilty of theft and jailed for 22 months in November 2008.

Thomson, who was known to have links to serious organised crime, was sentenced to three years behind bars after being convicted at Hamilton Sheriff Court in January last year of two offences under proceeds of crime laws.

The Crown Office yesterday revealed Thomson, from Kirkmuirhill in Lanark, was hit this week with a confiscation order for 91,415 at the same court.

Lindsey Miller, head of the serious and organised crime division at the Crown Office, said: "William Thomson was caught red-handed passing a holdall containing over 90,000 to a man in a car in Glasgow..

"The Proceeds of Crime Act gives prosecutors wide-ranging powers to seize back cash and assets from those who choose to make their living from illegal activities. We will continue to use every power available to us to disrupt these criminal enterprises."