A man who tried to smuggle thousands of pounds worth of drugs into Scotland disguised as pet food has been jailed.
Toby Bishop, 21, was caught after UK Border Force officials inspected the packages sent from Germany in July last year.
Despite being labelled Adult Brakes Cat Food, officers at the Coventry International postal hub discovered more than 8,400 ecstasy tablets.
The haul of MDMA had a street value of £84,430 if sold in £10 batches, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said.
Officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) then raided Bishop’s home in Glenogil, Angus, where they found bags containing cannabis in a bedroom and several cannabis plants being grown inside a polytunnel in the garden.
A court heard the cannabis was worth around £11,250.
Bishop’s phone was also analysed and was found to contain images of plants growing inside the tunnel as well as a price list for controlled drugs.
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Last month, Bishop pleaded guilty to two charges of being concerned in the supply of a controlled drug.
At the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday, he was sentenced to four years and two months in jail.
‘Brazen deception’
Moira Orr, homicide and major crime lead for COPFS, said: “This was an attempt to bring a significant quantity of illegal and harmful drugs to Scotland through a brazen deception.
“This man is now serving a prison sentence following a multi-agency operation to investigate and prosecute the supply of controlled drugs.
“We are targeting all people who threaten communities across Scotland, not only drug couriers but also those who direct their movements.
“With each case of this kind, we can help reduce the harm these drugs inflict on those communities.”
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Rob Miles, NCA Scotland operations manager, said Bishop “made only futile attempts” to hide his delivery of the MDMA tablets.
He added: “MDMA can be an extremely potent drug and this amount of tablets reaching the streets of Scotland could have had a catastrophic impact on our communities.
“We will continue to work with partners to disrupt wholesale importations like this and protect the public from the serious and organised crime.”
