ringleader, Brian McCulloch, 39, from Paisley, who was caught on tape boasting that he made £20,000 a day selling the drug, was jailed for 10 years. The court was told that he was caught when he bought a BMW jeep, which had a police listening device installed inside, from his co-accused Stephen Jamieson. Jamieson, 26, also from Paisley and who was jailed for eight years, used his profits to buy a £115,000 Lamborghini car, an £1,800 dog and three watches together costing £10,315. Steven Caddis, 30, and Gary Caddis were sentenced to six years and five years. The court was told that the men were overheard by police using codewords while discussing buying and selling cocaine, mentioning prices that ran into tens of thousands of pounds. Strathclyde Police searched 171 houses and questioned 146 people. Officers have so far seized drugs and drug-related material worth £8.8 million, £445,000 in cash, two Mac-10 machineguns and an assortment of sawn-off shotguns, rifles, handguns and ammunition. They also took three Range Rovers, one BMW X5, one BMW X3, one Lexus and one Porsche Cayenne, as well as five Rolex watches, two Cartier watches and one Breitling watch. At an earlier hearing all four men admitted dealing cocaine. Jamieson also pleaded guilty to money laundering. Judge Lord Pentland said the sentences reflected “society’s condemnation” of the activities of gangs such as McCulloch’s. He told him: “It is a trade which wreaks so much misery on its users and their families. It is clear that you were one of those particularly concerned with organising and running an extensive criminal scheme involving large amounts of cocaine. The quantities and values of the drugs involved were substantial.”
The judge commended the police for their “skill and diligence” in bringing the gang to justice.
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