Two men who tried to smuggle almost £600,000 of cannabis into Scotland on a transatlantic flight have been jailed for more than five years in total.
UK Border Force officers stopped Jamaal Darbasie, 27, and George Manton, 19, when they arrived at Glasgow Airport on a flight from Toronto in Canada on March 10 last year.
Prosecutors said each man had two suitcases which were later found to contain cannabis hidden inside 120 vacuum-sealed packages.
Specialists estimated that if sub-divided, the Class B drugs would have a street value of £592,716.
The two men pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs at a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow last month.
Darbasie was jailed for three years when he was sentenced at the High Court in Inverness on Wednesday, while Manton was ordered to spend 30 months behind bars, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said.
Moira Orr, who leads on major crime for COPFS, said: “This was a substantial attempt to bring a significant quantity of illegal and harmful drugs through Scotland.
“Jamaal Darbasie and George Manton have now been held accountable thanks to an extensive Border Force operation, working with COPFS, to investigate and interrupt a network of drug supply.
“With each case of this kind we can help reduce the harm that these drugs inflict on communities.
“We are targeting all people who threaten communities across Scotland, not only drug couriers but also those who direct their movements.”
Border Force officers stopped Darbasie and Manton, both of Harlow, Essex, in the nothing-to-declare lane at the airport’s arrivals zone last year.
Their suitcases were searched and the drugs, which weighed 60 kilograms in total, were discovered inside the sealed packages, prosecutors said.
Each of the cases also contained an Apple AirTag tracker device, COPFS said.
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