The head of one of Scotland’s biggest organised crime gangs was jailed for almost a decade after being caught with £4 million worth of cocaine.
Gary Morris ran an underworld operation that flooded Scotland with Class A drugs until it was ended by a massive covert surveillance operation.
Lord Summers jailed Morris for nine years and four months yesterday and imposed a Serious Crime Prevention Order (SCPO) on him at the High Court in Dundee.
The judge told him: “The business became so large it took up your every working hour. Some days you were taking 100 calls and texts. The drugs were stored in specially adapted gas canisters and kept in various safe houses. Mobile phones were encrypted to conceal your activities from law enforcement agencies. To conceal the true nature of your work you set up a company which was a sham and designed to conceal the true source of your income.”
The drugs recovered had a wholesale value of £1.5 million but the judge said that he estimated that the street value would be in the region of £4 million.
Advertisement
Lord Summers noted that four members of the gang who worked for Morris had already been jailed. He added: “Your culpability is greater and should be reflected in your sentence.”
Morris, 41, of Carluke, admitted supplying cocaine between September 25, 2018, and March 18 last year. The offence was aggravated by links to serious organised crime. The drug was supplied at numerous locations in East Kilbride, Glasgow, Wishaw, Bellshill, Motherwell, Newtongrange and Dalkeith, as well as the Toby Carvery in Strathclyde Park and Newbattle Bowling Club.
Donald Findlay QC, in mitigation, said that Morris, a father of four who previously worked as a builder, had made a full confession and wanted to move on after serving his sentence.
Findlay said: “He is a pragmatist. He absolutely accepts he got involved in the drug world and he recognises the consequences of him being involved. He realises he has to bear the responsibility and he regrets the effect all of this will have had on a number of people.”
He added: “He realises a significant custodial sentence awaits him. He wants to start afresh with his young family and sever all contact with this kind of life.”
Advertisement
The SCPO will impose serious restrictions on Morris’s lifestyle while he is in prison and after his release. His access to communication devices will be limited, as will his ability to retain and dispose of cash and other assets.