A Scots football scout caught with a £450,000 cocaine haul inside a secret van compartment was rumbled by eagle-eyed cops using a magnet during a search of the vehicle. Jordan McKinlay has been jailed for three years and nine months for his role in supplying drugs and having links to organised crime.
The 30-year-old was arrested by police after they found nine blocks of cocaine stashed in the Renault Kangoo van, which was parked outside his home, in April 2020. He was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow after earlier admitting his role in smuggling the drugs from England to Scotland.
His co-accused, Gary O’ Connell, 23, was imprisoned for four years last December for driving the drugs north across the border in the modified van before handing over the keys to McKinlay. Prosecutors revealed the duo teamed up after a mutual friend said they had a job for them both to do. McKinlay’s role was to provide O’Connell, a joiner, with a van for the return trip to England.
McKinlay took delivery of the Renault van after it had been driven down to Blackburn and back in April 2020 by O’Connell, of Castlemilk, Glasgow. O’Connell then parked the van outside the football scout's home in Gartcosh, Lanarkshire, and handed him the keys.
Later that night, the Renault was searched by specialist officers acting on intelligence after McKinlay had driven off in a second van. The court was told police used a magnet to reveal the specially adapted space and discovered the Class A drugs.
McKinlay was later apprehended at the Fort Shopping Centre in Easterhouse, Glasgow, and officers found a similar secret compartment in his van and the keys to the Renault. As well as the drugs, police also seized encrypted EncroChat phones – used mainly by Serious and Organised Crime gangs - from both men.
Once decoded, the phones revealed a third party discussing a drug pick-up with O’Connell.
Laura Buchan, Procurator Fiscal for Specialist Casework, of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said the prosecution should act as a strong warning to drugs traffickers.
She said: “This was a coordinated effort to bring significant quantities of illegal and harmful drugs into Scotland. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is committed to working with the Police Service of Scotland and other reporting agencies to stop the activities of serious and organised crime groups.
“These individuals threaten communities across Scotland. With each successful prosecution, we can help reduce the harm these drugs inflict on communities."
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