A football scout who helped smuggle £450,000 worth of cocaine from England to Scotland has been jailed for three years and nine months.
Jordan McKinlay, 30, was handed the sentence by Lord Scott at the High Court in Glasgow after police uncovered a secret compartment inside a Renault Kangoo van containing wrapped packages of cocaine.
He had earlier pled guilty to supplying drugs and having links to organised crime.
The Procurator Fiscal for specialist casework of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said drug traffickers "threaten communities across Scotland".
Laura Buchan added: "This was a coordinated effort to bring significant quantities of illegal and harmful drugs into Scotland.
"The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is committed to working with the Police Service of Scotland and other reporting agencies to stop the activities of serious and organised crime groups.
“These individuals threaten communities across Scotland. With each successful prosecution, we can help reduce the harm these drugs inflict on communities."
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McKinlay’s co-accused, Gary O’Connell, 23, was imprisoned for four years last December for ferrying the drugs from England in the van.
At a hearing last month, the court heard how both men were brought together by a mutual friend who said he had a job for them to do.
McKinlay supplied the 23-year-old joiner with a van for a return trip to England.
The van was driven down to Blackburn and back in April 2020 by O’Connell, of Castlemilk, Glasgow.
O'Connell parked the van at the accused's home in Gartcosh, Lanarkshire, and handed him the keys.
However, the Renault was searched by specialist officers acting on intelligence after McKinlay had driven off in a second van.
Using a magnet, officers revealed the specially adapted space and uncovered nine blacks of cocaine.
McKinlay was later apprehended at the Fort Shopping Centre in Easterhouse, Glasgow, and officers found a similar secret compartment in his van and the keys to the Renault.
As well as the drugs, police also seized encrypted EncroChat phones – used mainly by Serious and Organised Crime gangs - from both men.
Once decoded, the phones revealed a third party discussing a drugs pick-up with O’Connell.
McKinlay was sentenced after he pled guilty at a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow last month to being concerned in the supply of drugs and having links to organised crime gangs.
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