COURT officials have confiscated almost £300,000 from two drug dealers.
John James, 49, and Stephen Rollo, 41, were ordered to hand over cash at Edinburgh High Court today.
James, from Wishaw, had previously been found guilty of being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine. He was sentenced to five years and two months in prison.
The courts ordered that £148,000 be taken from him.
In a separate case Rollo, from Lambhill, Glasgow, had previously pled guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine.
He was sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment, later reduced on appeal to five and a half years.
He had £140,000 confiscated.
Lindsey Miller, Head of the Serious and Organised Crime Division (SOCD) and the current POCA champion, said: “John James was dealing Class A drugs – heroin and cocaine – from his garage and home in Wishaw.
Pleased
“He was caught red-handed by police who raided the garage and found heroin with a street value of almost £80,000, cocaine worth almost £700, almost £5,000 in cash and drug dealing equipment; plus a garrotte, a loaded crossbow, and a sawn-off shotgun.
“In his home was found a further £2,870 in cash.”
She added: “The drugs operation being run by Stephen Rollo and his co-accused William Henderson was one of the biggest ever found in Scotland.
“Heroin worth £300,000 was found in the premises at Dalmarnock when searched by police in October 2010.
“Cocaine and sophisticated drug dealing equipment was also found there, leading officers to believe that this was a ‘grand scale’ operation for storage, adulteration and packaging of drugs for onward sale and supply.”
She said the cash would be used as part of a community scheme.
“Taking money back from drug dealers and disrupting their activities is one of the main aims of the Proceeds of Crime Act,” she said.
“We are pleased that yet again, we have an example of a drug dealer being forced to hand back the money he has made, for that money to be re-invested in the Cashback for Communities programme.
“The Crown will continue to use the Proceeds of Crime Act to pursue anyone making money from criminal behaviour.”
