Drug smugglers jailed for 10 years after police seize cocaine worth £6million and £400k cash

Two drug couriers have been jailed for ten years after being caught smuggling nearly £6 million of cocaine into Scotland.

The Crown Office said David Murdoch, 56, from Paisley in Renfrewshire, and Graham McCulloch, 39, from Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, admitted supplying drugs and possessing criminal property in connection with serious organised crime.

On Thursday, Murdoch was sentenced to a total of 10 years at the High Court in Glasgow and McCulloch was jailed for 10 years.

They were also both issued with a Serious Crime Prevention Order that will be in place for three years upon their release.

The Crown Office said the pair came to the attention of police in an intelligence-led operation carried out between the Scottish and Metropolitan forces on May 12 last year.

Officers watched Murdoch and McCulloch dropping off heavy bags – presumed to contain large sums of money – at a location in central London.

A few days later on May 18, a cross-border surveillance operation followed Murdoch as he drove a van from Stonehouse in South Lanarkshire to London.

He met McCulloch, who was driving a BMW car, at a service station on the outskirts of the capital and the pair drove in convoy to central London.

Police uncovered a massive £6m cocaine haul. Photo: Police Scotland

Murdoch unloaded heavy bags, presumed to contain money in payment for drugs, at the same location while McCulloch remained nearby.

He then went to two other locations, in London and Kent, where he picked up bags, which were later found to contain cocaine.

McCulloch was then met in a hotel car park, where a bag was placed into the boot of his car.

The two vehicles headed back to Scotland and were intercepted by Police Scotland at a service station at Ecclefechan, Dumfries and Galloway.

In the van, police found 43 blocks of cocaine weighing 52 kilos in a specially built “hide” operated with a hydraulic system.

In the BMW, there were five blocks of cocaine and a suitcase full of cash, totalling £409,595 and 289,500 in euros (£254,564).

The cocaine found would be worth up to £5.9 million when cut for sale.

Officers also searched the men’s homes.

At McCulloch’s house they found a mobile with notes detailing drug deliveries between April 21 and May 8, 2020.

At Murdoch’s home they found another van fitted with a “hide”.

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