Six men charged after a large-scale drugs probe in Aberdeen have been jailed for a total of more than 16 years.
The group was held after around £192,000 of heroin, cocaine and cannabis was seized in the Torry area of the city last year.
Jaimie Campbell, described as an “organiser” in the lucrative operation – was sentenced to three years and seven months when he and the others appeared at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday.
The court heard the 21-year-old got involved for “easy money”.
Sentence on the other members of the group were: Michael Clark, 28, five years and two months; Kevin Tolmie, 30, two-and-a-half years; Lee Nicol, 23, two years and five months; Lee Hulse, 21, 13 months; and Scott White, 29, 18 months.
Three other men arrested during the same investigation were spared jail.
Stewart Sutherland, 24, Gary Clark, 33, and Alexander MacPherson, 28, were all instead handed community payback orders.
The nine men were put under surveillance as part of a investigation into the supply of drugs in Torry.
Campbell was caught “arranging distribution of drugs” between July and November last year, which involved directing “runners” to sell drugs to addicts on the streets.
The court also Michael Clark was central to a heroin deal that went wrong in December last year.
Police spotted someone leaving a package within woods at the city’s Tullos Hill, which a sniffer dog later found. It contained £110,500 of heroin, and was seized.
Nicol – who had previously been caught months earlier with £26,000 of heroin in the city’s King’s Gate – and Hulse were later clocked in the area appearing to be looking for something.
Michael Clark was also spotted that night looking “agitated” at the loss of the drugs.
Tolmie was a drugs “runner”, while White was stopped at Aberdeen Railway Station on November 27. He was later found hiding more than £6,000 of heroin.
One of the three men spared prison, MacPherson, was caught with £34,450 of cocaine hidden in his pants.
Gary Clark had a £16,375 of cannabis in his car while Sutherland was clocked last November clutching a large wad of money he was counting out.