A lorry driver caught transporting a huge haul of high purity cocaine worth more than £3million is set to be jailed.
Robert Stewart was seen stowing away two suitcases containing 143lb of the class A drug in the cab of his vehicle in London before driving north to Scotland.
Police tracked his journey and recovered the cocaine when they stopped his lorry in May last year after he pulled into Hamilton Services in Lanarkshire.
Advocate depute Richard Goddard QC said: “The purity of the cocaine was found to be between 74 and 80 per cent.
“This is described by police expert witnesses as ‘importation purity’.”
The High Court in Edinburgh heard that if bulked out to produce cocaine with a street level purity of 30 per cent it would produce 368lb worth in excess of £3.3million.
Stewart, also known as Clifford, was alone in the vehicle when it was stopped. His DNA was found on the handles and zips of the suitcases and his fingerprints were discovered on one of the blocks of cocaine.
He was detained for drugs crime and officers later searched his home in Elderslie, Renfrewshire.
HGV driver Stewart admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine, when he appeared in court yesterday.
The judge, Lady Poole, deferred sentence on him for the preparation of a background report and remanded him in custody.
The Crown has raised proceedings to claw back crime profits from him.
