Wanted man sentenced for 20 years in prison after trying to smuggle £76m of cocaine into Britain hidden in bananas
A British drug lord known as “The Iceman” has been jailed for 20 years after admitting to a plot to smuggle cocaine with a street value of £76million through crates of bananas.
James Stevenson, 59, pleaded guilty mid-trial at the High Court in Glasgow, along with five other men, including Glasgow Fruit Market trader David Bilsland, 67.
Stevenson, who was named as one of the UK’s most wanted men in 2022 by the NCA, was convicted of directing a serious criminal offence of importation of cocaine.
During mitigation, Thomas Ross KC, defending Stevenson, said: “He knew exactly what he was doing and appreciates Your Lordship must pass a sentence that deters others.”
The case came to court after Border Force officers seized 18 consignments of bananas at the Port of Dover between May and September 2020.
They contained almost a tonne of potent cocaine with a purity of 73 per cent, and were addressed to Glasgow Fruit Market.
Bilsland, who sold fruit to hotels and celebrities, was planning to retire before he met Stevenson at a hotel in Alicante, Spain, on Valentine’s Day in 2020 and agreed to allow his business to be used for the importation of drugs.
Vehicle recovery firm owner Lloyd Cross, 32, also pled guilty, having met with Stevenson in a park in April 2020 to make plans.
He colluded with Bilsland to provide his recovery vehicles to deliver and collect cash, as they used their businesses to fund the importation of drugs, the court heard.
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Both were sentenced to six years behind bars.
Stevenson also pleaded guilty to being involved in organised crime linked to the production and supply of Class C drug etizolam, along with his stepson Gerard Carbin, 44, co-accused Ryan McPhee, 34 and Paul Bowes, 53.
Carbin was sentenced to seven years, while McPhee was jailed for four.
The plot intended to supply the drug, known as street Valium, through the Nurai Island Resort in Abu Dhabi, London, and Rochester, Kent, where a police raid in June 2020 recovered more than 13 million pills.
During the raid, officers discovered equipment capable of producing 258,000 pills per hour.
Stevenson was arrested, but after his release fled to the Netherlands, where he was captured in 2022 and extradited.
The plot was penetrated when French law enforcement officers infiltrated the encrypted EncroChat network in April 2020.
Stevenson and Carbin were previously jailed for organised crime in 2007.
Police Scotland’s head of organised crime, Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Ferry, said: “The sentencing of Stevenson, Bilsland, Bowes, Carbin, McPhee and Cross following their guilty pleas sends out a clear message that the activities of those who think that they can bring illegal drugs into our communities will not be tolerated.
“This multi-agency operation, which spanned several countries, prevented a huge haul of illegal drugs reaching our communities and will have undoubtedly saved lives.
“However, we cannot be complacent, and our officers will continue their work to ensure Scotland remains a hostile environment for organised criminals.”