Men who tried to smuggle £592,000 of drugs on transatlantic flight jailed
UK Border Force officers stopped Jamaal Darbasie, 27, and George Manton, 19, when they arrived at Glasgow Airport on a flight from Toronto in Canada on March 10 last year.
Prosecutors said each man had two suitcases which were later found to contain cannabis hidden inside 120 vacuum-sealed packages.
Specialists estimated that if sub-divided, the Class B drugs would have a street value of £592,716.
The two men pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs at a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow last month.
Darbasie was jailed for three years when he was sentenced at the High Court in Inverness on Wednesday, while Manton was ordered to spend 30 months behind bars, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said.
Moira Orr, who leads on major crime for COPFS, said: 'This was a substantial attempt to bring a significant quantity of illegal and harmful drugs through Scotland.
'Jamaal Darbasie and George Manton have now been held accountable thanks to an extensive Border Force operation, working with COPFS, to investigate and interrupt a network of drug supply.
'With each case of this kind we can help reduce the harm that these drugs inflict on communities.
'We are targeting all people who threaten communities across Scotland, not only drug couriers but also those who direct their movements.'
Border Force officers stopped Darbasie and Manton, both of Harlow, Essex, in the nothing-to-declare lane at the airport's arrivals zone last year.
Their suitcases were searched and the drugs, which weighed 60 kilograms in total, were discovered inside the sealed packages, prosecutors said.
Each of the cases also contained an Apple AirTag tracker device, COPFS said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Courier
7 hours ago
- The Courier
Tuesday court round-up — Bogus tradesman and £90k dealer
A Dundee father-of-three was jailed for 32 months after he was caught storing heroin and cocaine worth more than £90,000. The High Court in Edinburgh was told did not know the value of the drugs police recovered from an address at Ormiston Crescent. Judge Lord Arthurson told the 30-year-old he would have faced a four-year jail term but for his early guilty plea to two charges of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin on July 17 last year. During a search, officers found more than half a kilo of heroin and three kilos of bulking agent in a holdall, along with quarter of a kilo of cocaine in a gift bag and smaller amounts of cocaine. The cocaine was assessed as having a maximum value of £50,500 and the heroin £40,000. Officers also found £460 in a jacket pocket. Defence solicitor advocate Kris Gilmartin said Ogilvie was laid off from his employment last summer. 'He accepts he was abusing drugs at the time and he was suffering financial difficulties.' He said Ogilvie agreed to store the drugs but stood to gain very little financially and 'did not know the value and did not know that heroin was also present'. He added: 'He accepts fully his involvement in these offences and appreciates that he must be punished.' 'A significant part of that punishment is letting his family down. His actions have caused misery to those closest to him.' A senior manager at power firm SSE has been banned from driving for two years after he drunkenly careered his car into a Perth woman's garden. was five times the limit when he ploughed his Land Rover Discovery through a hedge. A Fife tradesman who swindled thousands of pounds from customers has been given a hefty compensation order and told for a second time to do unpaid work. , 25, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court after failing to do the 160 unpaid work hours to which he was originally sentenced about a year ago for the crime. The court heard he has only done one hour. Aitchison, of Sherbrooke Road, Rosyth, previously pled guilty to three fraud charges. On March 1 2023 at an address in Nether Currie Road, Edinburgh, he pretended he would carry out work to renovate a room in his house and obtained a £1,300 deposit by fraud, knowing he had no intention of doing the work. He fraudulently obtained a £1,400 deposit from a woman by pretending he would install a new kitchen at her home in Leadside Crescent, Wellwood, on September 28 2023. Between April 21 and September 27 of that year at an address in Goulden Place, Dunfermline, he obtained a £3,200 deposit by fraud by pretending he would carry out building work. Defence lawyer Pete Robertson said Aitchison – who remains in joinery work – started his own business but got himself into debts and ended up 'putting his head in the sand'. The lawyer said Aitchison's focus until February this year was cocaine use but that he has started to take steps to abstain, is now more pro-social and is assessed in a background report as suitable for unpaid work. Sheriff Susan Duff made a compensation order for the full amount and gave Aitchison 74 weeks to pay at £100 per week. He will be under offender supervision. The sheriff also told Aitchison to do 159 hours of unpaid work – taking account of the one hour he did – within three months. A security engineer who clambered into a fire tragedy Perth hotel to reclaim his CCTV cameras told a court how he was treated by police as a murder suspect. entered the New County Hotel through an upstairs window just weeks after the horrific blaze in January 2023 that claimed the lives of three people. After a lengthy trial he was cleared of breaking into the hotel and stealing the cameras. drunkenly dished out racist and homophobic abuse at Dundee bar, Captain's Cabin. As he was arrested, he called police 'Nazis' and 'woke'. Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith told Penman: 'If I were woke perhaps I would step back from a custodial sentence.' Dundee Sheriff Court heard how the 40-year-old approached door staff at the North Lindsay Street bar at around 11.50pm on November 23 2024 and said: 'Your venue is full of Nazis 'Why do you let all these black b******s in?' He was refused entry and became 'irate and agitated', a prosecutor said. He began shouting, 'Nazi b******s' at patrolling police and after being handcuffed and taken to the nearby police headquarters, shouted: 'You mutants, you freaks. 'Woke p**f. Transgender woke c**t. You're a f****t.' Penman kicked out repeatedly and kicked one PC on the body. Solicitor Gary McIlravey said of his client: 'He had no recollection whatsoever. 'He has not covered himself in glory with his behaviour and underpinning the offences was the excessive consumption of alcohol.' Penman was placed on a restriction of liberty order (10pm-6am) for four months. A pizza chef who smoked cannabis with a missing 12 year-old girl before raping her in Fife has been jailed for five years. exploited the youngster at his then-home in Burntisland in June 2023 and claimed in the high court he thought the child was older than she was. A 53-year-old who made a sexual remark to a 15-year-old girl at Glenrothes bus station and stole money from a pensioner has been jailed for 14 months. On other occasions at the same bus station, struck a bus service employee on the head with his crutch and was racially abusive to another man. Hamilton appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court for sentencing by video link to prison after earlier pleading guilty to separate offences of directing sexual verbal communications at a child, assault, theft, and acting in a racially aggravated manner. Prosecutor Matthew Knapp told the court the teenager was left 'alarmed and very uncomfortable' on July 31 last year when Hamilton asked her age then told her 'you have good boobs and a bum for a 15-year-old.' Defence lawyer Calum Harris said Hamilton, of Glenrothes, was under the influence at the time and has little recollection of the incident. Hamilton had already been told at the station he was banned from Stagecoach buses after leaving blood-soaked bandages on a coach on June 22 last year. He had reacted by hitting a supervisor with his crutch, cutting his head. His bus station offending also included, on August 19 2023, acting in a racially-aggravated manner by repeatedly uttering racist abuse and raising his crutch at a man in an aggressive manner. On June 15 last year at an address in Postgate, Glenrothes, Hamilton stole a 'quantity of cash' from an 81-year-old man. Referring to a previous background report, Mr Harris said his client had been sleeping rough for three years prior to his remand in March. He said Hamilton has been a drug user since the age of 13, when he was first introduced to heroin and more recently, crack cocaine.
STV News
9 hours ago
- STV News
Drunk skipper fined after ship ran aground when he fell asleep
A skipper has been fined for causing serious damage to a fishing boat on the Isle of Rum when he fell asleep after drinking alcohol. Shaun MacInnes, from Eriskay, was in charge of the FV Annette when it ran aground on the Isle of Rum on March 31, 2022. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) investigated the incident and said the 29-year-old denied drinking. He claimed he had fallen asleep because he was tired due to 'personal circumstances'. However, during the trial the court heard evidence that MacInnes had been directed by its owner to take the wooden-hulled vessel from Eriskay to Mallaig for repairs. While in Mallaig, MacInnes telephoned the owner, stating that he intended to take the deckhand to the Isle of Rum 'sightseeing' once repairs were made. The owner agreed on the strict understanding that MacInnes did not consume any alcohol before or during the trip. During the trial, witnesses gave evidence about MacInnes' condition when they encountered him. A fisheries officer who spoke with MacInnes just after 4pm said he could smell beer on his breath and saw that he was unsteady on his feet. He was said to be slurring his words and at one point, fell off the skipper's chair which was surrounded by empty beer cans. The fisheries officer was so concerned about MacInnes' condition and his intention of setting sail for Rum that he called the police. A police officer arrived and boarded the vessel, finding MacInnes asleep in the wheelhouse. He managed to wake him with the assistance of the deckhand. The officer established their intention to go to sea and attempted to persuade them to remain in Mallaig and sleep off the effects before setting sail the following day. After 10pm that evening, the Coastguard responded to a Mayday call from the boat after it ran aground on rocks. The boat sustained significant damage and was recovered and escorted back to Mallaig by lifeboat crews. MacInnes was fined £2,000 with a £75 victim surcharge and ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation. Speaking after the sentencing, Debbie Carroll, who leads on health and safety investigations for the COPFS, said: 'It is clear from the evidence led at trial that Shaun MacInnes ignored instructions from the owner of the vessel and the police in taking an unnecessary trip while under the effects of alcohol and fell asleep. 'As the master of the vessel, he failed to keep a proper lookout and caused it to run aground putting his and his deckhand's lives at risk, causing serious damage to the boat and the needless deployment of emergency service resources. 'COPFS will continue to work closely with the MCA to ensure anyone who breaks the law faces prosecutorial action.' Jay Staff, MCA deputy head of Regulatory, Compliance and Investigations, said: 'The MCA will always support partners or take action itself against seafarers or operators behaving dangerously anywhere in the UK. 'We will always work to hold responsible those who, like Shaun MacInnes, put crew, other seafarers and the public at risk by failing to follow the rules that keep people safe on the water.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Scottish Sun
10 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
‘Super Sperm Donor' TV star ‘recreated alleged sex attack', court told
The court heard how he jetted off to the Philippines to donate sperm to a couple in October 2022 Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A RAPE accused told a jury how he's recreated the alleged sex attack with his latest girlfriend. Mitchell Kennedy, 42, is alleged to have pounced on his ex in her own bedroom as she tried to dump him. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Mitchell Kennedy is accused of raping his partner after she tried to dump him But as he gave evidence in his own defence, the dad-of-two rubbished the claims and told the jury it would be impossible for him to do what he's been accused of. He said: 'She said we had sex with her on top. I held her by her hips. 'It's ridiculous. It's nonsense. I tried it out with my partner. There is no way a man can hold a woman on top of him. 'It's all an attention seeking thing. It is a horrendous experience she has put herself through with these false allegations. 'Why would anyone do this? It's hell for her as well. I believe it's the process that has traumatised her.' We told how Mitchell, from Aberdeen, appeared in a TV show called Britain's Super Sperm Donors. His trial at the High Court in the city heard he jetted off to the Philippines to donate to a couple in October 2022. He told the court the week-long trip came a day after he returned from a disappointing break to Majorca with his ex-girlfriend, who's 23. A pal of the woman told jurors: 'He went to the Philippines for what I believe to be a sperm donation. 'When he got back that was the end of the relationship because she didn't trust him.' Moment evil soldier who raped woman in town centre is caught cowering in toilet The trial was told the woman summoned him to her flat to split with him in November 2022 after he avoided seeing her for three weeks. A concerned flatmate claimed they heard the couple kissing and arguing through the door but they couldn't get her to leave the room. They then got a family member to contact her and falsely claim they had hurt themselves to get her away from Mitchell. The accused told the jury the woman was actually keen to save the relationship after problems during the rocky holiday to Majorca. Mitchell claimed the pair had consensual sex and he left thinking they were still a couple while her flatmates were up to a 'stupid game'. He said: 'It had gone better than I thought it would. 'We made love. I was in a good mood. I was happy. I wasn't concerned about what the game was.' Under cross examination from prosecutor David Logan he accused his ex of lying about what had happened. He said: 'She had backed herself into a corner. Making me out to be some kind of baddie. She's then having to juggle these two contrasting situations.' Mitchell was cleared of verbally and physically abusing his ex. He denies raping her. The trial before Judge Graham Buchanan continues.
