Men jailed after £10m of cocaine found concealed inside van

Four men have been jailed for their involvement in serious organised crime after £10m worth of cocaine was found concealed inside a Transit van.

Ellis Hardy, Wayne Smith, James Davidson and David Mullarkey all previously pled guilty and were sentenced to a total of 22 years in prison on Tuesday.

The cocaine was found in the vehicle as it was parked in the premises of DM Kitchens in Hillington, Glasgow, owned by 47-year-old Mullarkey.

Officers had followed Hardy, 42, and Smith, 39, to the site as part of an intelligence-led investigation. They had driven up to Scotland in a white Ford Transit van, arriving in Glasgow on 22 June 2019.

On the same day, Davidson, 58, drove an HGV full of waffles from England to the same meeting point.

Officers watched as the men worked for around an hour, moving items from the HGV trailer to the Transit van. They could hear drilling, sawing and banging noises from the vehicles.

When the work finished, police moved in and searched the vehicles. They found 30kgs of high purity cocaine hidden inside the Transit van. If adulterated to a lower purity level, the drugs could be worth up to £9.96m.

The HGV was also searched and was found to have been modified to conceal packages. The packages of cocaine found in the Transit van were the right size and shape to fit in the HGV hide.

Stephen McGowan, Deputy Crown Agent for Serious Casework, said: "A significant quantity of cocaine was prevented from reaching Scotland’s streets thanks to the intelligence received in this investigation.

"Drugs do great harm to communities across Scotland and we will continue to work as a key part of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to protect those communities."

Applications have been made for Serious Crime Prevention Orders against all four men.