A couple of drug traffickers from Glasgow have been caged after being nicked while waiting to board a flight to Amsterdam.
James Montgomery, 44, and Darrin Campbell, 39, set up a drug trafficking network worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The brazen pair orchestrated the sale and supply of large quantities of cocaine and cannabis.
However, their crimes were exposed when specialist cops intercepted their encrypted messages on the Encrochat messaging platform favoured by criminals.
(Image: COPFS) At the High Court in Glasgow, the criminal duo were each locked up for four years and six months after they admitted being concerned in the sale and supply of controlled drugs.
The pair were also each made subject of Serious Crime Prevention Orders for three years which will come into effect on their release from prison.
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Sineidin Corrins, Deputy Procurator Fiscal for Specialist Casework at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said: “This was a highly successful prosecution which has removed a large quantity of drugs from our streets and caused significant disruption to the local supply chain.
“Jamie Montgomery and Darrin Campbell will now spend time in prison paying for their crimes thanks to an extensive police operation, working with COPFS, to investigate a network of drug supply.
“Drug trafficking wrecks lives and blights communities where drugs take hold.
“The Crown will continue working with the police and other agencies as a member of Scotland’s Serious and Organised Crime Taskforce to ensure that these crimes are detected and those responsible prosecuted using all measures at our disposal.”
(Image: COPFS) The COPFS said the court heard how the duo discussed drug-trafficking plans over a period between March 2020 and June 2020.
Frequent messages were exchanged detailing the purchase and supply of controlled drugs, adulterants, cash payments, and collections.
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Montgomery also posted several images to Campbell of compressed white powder, which was assessed to be cocaine.
He also regularly made arrangements to buy and sell drugs and passed on information to Campbell, who was the main point of contact for “customers”.
The drugs they sold were never recovered, but a conservative estimate placed the value of the cocaine at £350,000 and the cannabis at between £27,000 and £60,000 a month.
The pair were arrested in August 2023 as they waited to board a flight to Amsterdam by police officers acting on intelligence.