Dunfermline man one of two jailed over £600k high purity cocaine bust outside East Kilbride pub

Two men have been jailed after they were caught with high purity cocaine outside a Scots pub as part of a cross-border intelligence operation.

Gavin Kirkaldy, from Dunfermline, and Ian Smith from Liverpool, were seen exchanging a bag containing two kilograms of the class A drug in a car park outside the premises in East Kilbride in November 2019.

Officers arrested both men and seized the drugs - which had an estimated street value of £600,000 - as well as £38,000 in cash.

Both men were charged and appeared in court following the joint Police Scotland, Organised Crime Partnership (Scotland) and National Crime Agency (NCA) intelligence-led operation last year.

Ian Smith, from Liverpool, was jailed on Monday. Pic: Police scotland

On Monday, Smith, who is 51, was jailed for 45 months after Kirkaldy, 30, was given the same sentence at the end of October.

Detective Inspector Tom Gillan, of the Organised Crime Partnership (Scotland), said: “This is another example of how targeted investigations and proactive activity is impacting those who think they can profit from the movement and supply of controlled drugs destined for the streets and communities of Scotland.”

“Every organisation is committed to working together towards Scotland’s Organised Crime Strategy and Taskforce and determined to make the country a hostile environment for criminals such as Kirkaldy and Smith to operate.”

NCA operations manager John McGowan, of the Organised Crime Partnership (Scotland), said: “Operations like this show the benefit of the NCA and Police Scotland working together and sharing intelligence to tackle cross-border crime.

“Through the OCP we were able to act quickly to catch these criminals in the act, seizing their drugs and cash at the same time.

“The NCA and Police Scotland will continue to work together to stop organised criminals profiting on the supply of drugs, which in turn will help reduce violent crime across Scotland and the rest of the UK.”

The Organised Crime Partnership (Scotland) is an investigation team made up of officers and staff from Police Scotland and the National Crime Agency.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.