Two men who tried to smuggle cannabis with a street value of nearly £345,000 into Scotland from Dubai have been jailed for a total of three years and four months.
Vincent Chiamingsan, 31, and Ng Zhan, 33, both from Malaysia, ferried the Class B drugs inside two black suitcases but were stopped by Border Force officers at Glasgow Airport.
When the suitcases were searched, they discovered 69 vacuum-sealed bags containing half-kilo packages of herbal cannabis.
Both men were sentenced at Paisley Sheriff Court to 20 months’ imprisonment each after admitting charges of drug trafficking in April this year.
Sineidin Corrins, Deputy Procurator Fiscal for Specialist Casework at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: “These men failed in their attempt to import a significant quantity of drugs into Scotland.
“Justice has been served and these individuals are now serving prison sentences.
“I hope that these convictions and the sentences send a strong message to others involved in this kind of drug-trafficking behaviour and demonstrates the ability of police and prosecutors to investigate, prepare and prosecute crime of this nature.”
The court heard immigration officials at Glasgow Airport became suspicious of the two, branded, black suitcases the men were carrying.
The cases had been checked in at Dubai Airport, both men having travelled from Thailand to Scotland, via Dubai.
Zhan initially denied the luggage belonged to him, but eventually claimed someone had given him the case at Dubai while being unaware of its contents.
A search of both cases revealed the haul of cannabis which specialist officers valued as having a street value of £343,080 if subdivided into two-gram packages.