Fugitive jailed for plot to smuggle £76m of cocaine into UK hidden in bananas

One of the UK’s astir wanted men who plotted to smuggle £76 cardinal of cocaine into Britain from Ecuador successful consignments of bananas has been jailed for 20 years.

James Stevenson, 59, known arsenic The Iceman, pleaded blameworthy mid-trial astatine the High Court successful Glasgow to 2 charges – directing a superior transgression offence of importation of cocaine, and being progressive successful organised transgression done accumulation and proviso of etizolam, known arsenic thoroughfare valium.

He was jailed for 20 years erstwhile the lawsuit called astatine the tribunal connected Wednesday.

Four different men who admitted their guilt mid-trial are besides owed to beryllium sentenced.

The tribunal antecedently heard Border Force officers astatine the Port of Dover seized 18 consignments of bananas addressed to Glasgow Fruit Market betwixt May and September 2020.

They contained cocaine with a purity of 73%, weighing astir a tonne and with a thoroughfare worth of £76 million.

Fruit marketplace trader David Bilsland, 67, entered a blameworthy plea to a complaint of agreeing to import cocaine and co-accused Paul Bowes, 53, pleaded blameworthy to being progressive successful organised transgression linked to the accumulation and proviso of people C cause etizolam astatine a drawstring of premises including the Nurai Island Resort successful Abu Dhabi, successful London and successful Rochester, Kent.

Stevenson’s stepson, Gerard Carbin, 44, and co-accused Ryan McPhee, 34, admitted being progressive successful organised transgression done the accumulation and proviso of etizolam.

The crippled was smashed by French instrumentality enforcement officers who infiltrated the encrypted EncroChat web successful April 2020.

Vehicle betterment steadfast proprietor Lloyd Cross, 32, pleaded blameworthy to engagement successful the crippled earlier the trial, and is besides owed to beryllium sentenced connected Wednesday.

The tribunal antecedently heard Stevenson and Bilsland, a trader astatine Glasgow Fruit Market, met astatine a edifice successful Alicante, Spain, to sermon the program connected February 14, 2020.

Messages suggested Cross and Stevenson met successful a parkland to sermon plans successful April 2020, portion Bilsland arranged banana consignments and colluded with Cross to usage their businesses to money the importation of drugs, with betterment vehicles utilized to present and cod cash, the tribunal heard.

The tribunal was besides told transportation was being arranged of much than 13 cardinal thoroughfare valium pills and during a raid successful Rochester successful June 2020, instrumentality susceptible of producing 258,000 pills per hr was discovered.

Stevenson was arrested, released and aboriginal fled to the Netherlands, but helium was captured determination successful 2022 and extradited.

Stevenson and Carbin were some jailed successful 2007 for organised crime, and the National Crime Agency named the older antheral arsenic 1 of the UK’s astir wanted men successful 2022.