Three members of a serious organised crime gang have been jailed for a total of 18 years and five months for their part in an international drugs-trafficking scheme and money-laundering operation.
John Bonner, Christopher Laycock and David Kelly, all of Glasgow, plotted with others to import a large quantity of cocaine and heroin into Scotland from Spain hidden inside fake solar panels.
But their criminal activities were exposed when surveillance police examined the panels following the search of a van which had been driven from an industrial estate in Hillington, Glasgow, to a business park in Essex.
All three were sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh after pleading guilty to being involved in the commission of serious organised crime.
They were also made subject of Serious Crime Prevention Orders lasting three years designed to prevent their return to crime on their release from custody.
The timespan for the offending was between March 2020 and January 2022.
Bonner, 38, who acted as a collector for the gang’s drug sales, was jailed for five years and 10 months.
Laycock, 52, was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison after the court heard he had provided “advice” on how to set up a bogus shell firm as a front for the group’s activities to make their deliveries look legitimate.
And 42-year-old Kelly, a close associate of Bonner who transported drug money for the group throughout the United Kingdom in his company van, will spend five years and 10 months behind bars.
All three men had known links to major serious crime figures James White and Paul Fleming.
Sineidin Corrins, Deputy Procurator Fiscal for Serious Casework at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: “This is a significant prosecution.
“These three individuals played pivotal roles in a co-ordinated operation to import huge quantities of illegal and harmful drugs into Scotland from abroad.
“They are now serving lengthy prison sentences thanks to an extensive police operation, working with COPFS, to investigate a network of drug supply.
“I hope these convictions and the sentence send a strong message to others involved in this kind of criminal behaviour and demonstrates the ability of police and prosecutors to investigate, prepare and prosecute serious and organised crime of this nature.
“With each case of this kind we can help reduce the harm that these drugs inflict on Scotland’s communities.
“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 in January 2022, police surveillance officers observed men loading pallets into a van in Hillington which were subsequently then unloaded at a business park in Essex.
A police search discovered five pallets with large, boxed items which were destined to a company in Alicante, Spain, which was later found to be fictitious.
On further examination, the items were found to be fake solar panel generators which contained voids lined with lead and foil designed to prevent the contents being detected by Border Force x-ray scanners.
The generators had the capacity of holding up to 400kg of controlled drugs, which prosecutors believed would then be ferried back from Alicante.
The involvement of all three accused was further exposed from messages on the EncroChat phone network used by criminals.
Some conversations revealed the vast sums of drugs-trafficking cash involved as well as discussions over anti-surveillance techniques to try and avoid detection by authorities.
In one conversation, Laycock, who had a direct connection to James White, said he had checked a vehicle in which cash had been hidden and it had “more than he thought”.
White then told him there was £1.3m in it. Earlier, White had stated he needed £800,000 in Scottish bank notes “moved” to another location.
Kelly’s involvement was confirmed after his DNA was found to be on the handles of the fake solar panels which he helped load onto the van at Hillington.
All three will now be subject to confiscation action under Proceeds of Crime legislation to recover monies made from their illegal activities.