Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Dave Finlay

Scots cocaine gang caught smuggling £10m of drugs in 'Belgian waffle' trucks

Four members of a drugs gang caught with a huge haul of cocaine smuggled in a lorry which appeared to be transporting Belgian waffles have been hit with maximum term crime prevention orders.

James Davidson, David Mullarkey, Ellis Hardy and Wayne Smith were jailed for a total of 22 years last month after police seized the high purity Class A drug worth up to £10million on the streets.

Officers carried out a raid at the premises of a kitchen firm at the Hillington industrial estate, Glasgow, in June 2019, and seized 30 kilos of cocaine.

The drugs, which were up to 84 per cent pure, were trafficked in an HGV lorry, supposedly delivering a load of waffles, in a concealed compartment and transferred to an adapted Transit van at Mullarkey's business premises.

James Davidson was jailed for over six years for his role in a drugs smuggling gang (Police Scotland)
David Mullarkey was hit with the same sentence after £10m cocaine was seized in Glasgow (Police Scotland)

Police were monitoring Hardy, who was in the company of Smith, in the van the day before the raid was carried out on June 22, after they drove to the industrial estate.

Davidson had driven the HGV to the rendezvous at the premises of DM Kitchens, before officers moved in to seize the illicit cargo, which had the potential to make £9.96million if adulterated and broken down into street deals.

Davidson, 58, of Yoker, Glasgow, and Mullarkey, 47, of Stepps, Lanarkshire, were each jailed for six years and three months for their roles in the operation.

Hardy, 42, was caged for five years and Smith, 39, was imprisoned for four and a half years. They were both from Mitcham, in Surrey.

They had admitted being involved in serious organised crime and facilitating the transportation and distribution of the cocaine.

Lord Boyd of Duncansby, who jailed the crooks at the High Court in Edinburgh, told them: "Serious organised crime poses a threat to us all.

"It damages the fabric of our society and challenges the rule of law."

Ellis Hardy was being monitored by police the day before the raid (Police Scotland)
Wayne Smith was jailed for four and a half years (Police Scotland)

The judge said the trafficking of Class A drugs was "a particular scourge to our society" which produced misery for individuals and communities.

Following the jailing of the four, the Crown asked the court to impose serious crime prevention orders on them.

After a brief hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh today, Lord Boyd agreed to make the orders.

This means the offenders will have to notify police of their address following their release and will see restrictions over access to phones and other smart devices imposed on them.

All four were made subject to the orders for the maximum period of five years.

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.