Drug baron who plotted to smuggle £76,000,000 of cocaine in bananas jailed

A drug lord who became one of the UK’s most wanted men has been jailed for 20 years over a plot to smuggle £76 million of cocaine into the country in a cargo of bananas.

James Stevenson, 59, known as ‘The Iceman’, arranged for nearly a tonne of cocaine to be sent from Ecuador to Glasgow’s Fruit Market.

The city’s High Court heard Border Force officers at the Port of Dover seized 18 consignments of bananas containing 119 foil packages of cocaine with a purity of 73%.

Stevenson also plotted to produce and supply approximately 28 million ‘street Valium’ tablets, which were seized following a raid on a pill factory in Kent.

He pleaded guilty to directing the importation of cocaine and being involved in organised crime through the production and supply of Etizolam partway through his trial.

Stevenson showed no reaction as he was jailed.

Defending, Thomas Ross KC said: ‘He knew exactly what he was doing and appreciates Your Lordship must pass a sentence that deters others.’

Fruit market trader David Bilsland, 67, admitted agreeing to import cocaine.

Co-accused Paul Bowes, 53, pleaded guilty to being involved in organised crime linked to the production and supply of class C drug etizolam at a string of premises including the Nurai Island Resort in Abu Dhabi, in London and in Rochester, Kent.

Stevenson’s stepson, Gerard Carbin, 44, and co-accused Ryan McPhee, 34, admitted being involved in organised crime through the production and supply of etizolam.

The plot was smashed by French law enforcement officers who infiltrated the encrypted EncroChat network in April 2020.

Stevenson was arrested, released and later fled to the Netherlands, but he was captured there in 2022 and extradited.

Vehicle recovery firm owner Lloyd Cross, 32, pleaded guilty to involvement in the plot before the trial, and is also due to be sentenced on Wednesday.

The court previously heard Stevenson and Bilsland, a trader at Glasgow Fruit Market, met at a hotel in Alicante, Spain, to discuss the plan on February 14, 2020.

Messages suggested Cross and Stevenson met in a park to discuss plans in April 2020, while Bilsland arranged banana consignments and colluded with Cross to use their businesses to fund the importation of drugs, with recovery vehicles used to deliver and collect cash, the court heard.

Deputy Crown Agent Kenny Donnelly said: ‘James Stevenson and his criminal associates were involved in drug trafficking on an industrial and global scale.

‘But they have been brought to justice thanks to an extensive operation involving Police Scotland and the National Crime Agency, working with COPFS, to investigate and dismantle their network of drug supply.

‘Our message is clear: we will leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of drug traffickers. They will be caught, they will be prosecuted, and they will be brought to account for their crimes through the courts.’

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