A drugs trafficker has been jailed for five years after police found cocaine worth almost £2.5million in his car following a high-speed night-time chase.
Dylan Nicol, 24, drove at speeds up to 120mph to evade arrest during the pursuit along the A90 and Kingsway West in Dundee in February this year.
After he was detained, specialist drugs officers found 13 packages of cocaine in the boot of his Volkswagen Golf which they later estimated had a maximum potential value of £2,447,900.
Nicol, of Dundee, was sentenced at the High Court in Inverness after he pled guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and a charge of dangerous driving.
He will now face confiscation action under Proceeds of Crime legislation to recover monies illegally obtained.
Moira Orr, who leads on major crime for the Crown 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.
“Dylan Nicol will now spend time in prison paying for his crimes thanks to an extensive police operation, working with COPFS, to investigate and disrupt 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.”
The court heard how on 19 February police trailed Nicol’s car as it headed east on the A90 from Perth to Dundee at 70mph over suspicions the vehicle contained a haul of controlled drugs.
At the same time, other officers deployed a stinger just before the Swallow roundabout in Dundee where the A90 becomes Kingsway West to try and stop him.
Meanwhile, while near Longforgan, officers in three marked vehicles surrounded Nicol’s car and activated their blues lights, signalling for him to stop.
Instead, Nicol accelerated up to speeds of 120mph and was seen swerving in and out of traffic before hitting the stinger, which punctured his tyres.
Nicol carried on at 80mph and drove through a red light before officers were able to surround him when the car came to a halt and arrested him as he attempted to flee.
A cursory search of the accused’s car revealed a cardboard box containing 13 taped block packages which specialist officers later verified as being cocaine with a street value of £2,447,900 if divided into one-gram packages.
The drugs also had an average purity of 79%.