Scots drug traffickers snared as they prepared to board flight to Amsterdam

Scottish Sun

15-05-2025

The Glasgow duo are now banged up with scores of other Scots hoods who used the ecnrypted phone network
FLIGHT FRIGHT Scots drug traffickers snared as they prepared to board flight to Amsterdam
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TWO hoods behind a cocaine and cannabis plot were nicked by cops as they boarded a flight to Amsterdam, we can reveal.
Jamie Montgomery, 44, and Darrin Campbell, 39, were nicked as they waited to jet off to The Netherlands unaware cops had found incriminating evidence on their Encrochat handsets.
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An image shared on Encrochat by Jamie Montgomery showing white powder.
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A block of cocaine branded JEP which was found on Montgomery's Encrochat phone.
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An Encrochat handset like those used by Montgomery and Campbell.
Credit: Alamy
The duo, from Glasgow, are now banged up with scores of other Scots hoods who were nailed after using the encrypted phones to carry out their criminal schemes.
Images of their cocaine stash were today released by prosecutors after the Glasgow pair were jailed at the High Court in Glasgow.
The pair had been part of a crime gang involved in dealing more than £500,000 of cocaine and cannabis during the covid lockdown in 2020.
Messages revealed the duo's illegal activities including Campbell moaning that Montgomery had him "working" on the warmest day of that year.
The pair, both of the city's Knightswood, had earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of being involved in serious organised crime.
The pair were caught as part of the Operation Brumlow police probe into a crime mob.
Montgomery had the handle "Lets-Go' on EncroChat to communicate with fellow criminals while Campbell was known as "Reliantriver".
Prosecutor Leanne Cross: "Data was analysed with it becoming clear that Montgomery and Campbell were concerned in the sale and supply of both cocaine and cannabis.
"Montgomery could be seen regularly making arrangements to buy and sell and passing on this information to Campbell.
"Campbell was used as a main point of contact for 'customers'."
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Texts also revealed the duo chatted about buying a hydraulic press used to help bind and package illegal substances.
On April 1, 2020, Montgomery offered to sell a kilogramme of cocaine for £45,000.
Miss Cross: "Montgomery and Campbell also discuss awareness of a police presence around the handover."
They further spoke about "coping" with the then covid lockdown measures.
Montgomery later that month sent Campbell photos of consignments of cocaine to "ask his opinion on appearance".
Montgomery contacted an associate on the same day stating £42,000 of the drug can be delivered later that week.
On April 20, it emerged Campbell was awaiting delivery of drugs and asked Campbell to help then distribute it.
But, the next day, the pair were panicked after a crime associate had been arrested.
Miss Cross: "They exchanged thoughts on which police unit was involved, the cars used and the fact that they might be under surveillance due to having been in this person's company the previous day."
However, Montgomery still went on to arrange with another individual the supply of £84,000 of cocaine.
There was a further drug deal fixed days later. Campbell sent Montgomery more photos of cocaine which was set to be trafficked.
Miss Cross: "Campbell commented that Montgomery had him 'working' on the hottest day of the year."
There were more chats over the next few weeks over the sourcing of large hauls of both cocaine and cannabis as well as the collection of dirty money.
Miss Cross said none of the drugs mentioned in the texts were seized.
Regards values, she added: "It is considered that the conservative estimate in relation to the cocaine would be around £350,000 in total.
"It would be between £27,000 and £60,000 per month for the cannabis."
It was only in August 2023 the men were arrested at Glasgow Airport with them due to get on a flight to Amsterdam.
Thomas Ross KC, defending, said Montgomery was someone dealing with "many personal difficulties".
Campbell's lawyer James Wallace stated: "The period of offending coincided with the onset of the covid lockdown.
"He became involved in the use of EncroChat, but then took cold feet and desisted."
Lord Mulholland also imposed Serious Crime Prevention Orders - known as 'super-Asbos' - which are designed to tackled and monitor criminals on their release.
These were set for a period of three years.
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Sineidin Corrins of the COPFS welcomed the sentences handed down today.
Credit: Andrew Barr
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.'
We previously told how French and Dutch forces infiltrated the Encrochat network - leading to a wave of arrests across the UK and Europe.
Around 60,000 people across the continent used it, with around 10,000 of those users being from the UK.
Mystery continues to surround the people who made and supplied the handsets to hoods eager to keep their activities off the radar.
But the users came unstuck when French law enforcement cracked the system using software they have kept a closely guarded secret.
We told how a leading crimebuster said the takedown of Encrochat phones gave Scots cops the upper hand - and 'turbo-boosted' their fight against gangsters.
Miles Bonfield, deputy director of the National Crime Agency, hailed the impact of Operation Venetic, a hi-tech blitz that unearthed the activities of hundreds of hoods.
He said: 'It made a real difference to turbo-boosting some investigations that were already running and giving them the vital insight and evidential assistance they needed to prove their heinous criminality.'