A KEY player in Scotland’s international drug trade who tried to ship heroin disguised as breadsticks has been ordered to pay £48,000.
Richard Harrison, 58, from Liverpool, tried to ship 34kg heroin from Italy to Scotland by disguising it as a popular snack.
However, on 24 November 2012, his efforts were thwarted when a Scottish lorry was stopped en route from Greece to the Italian port of Bari, where police recovered the heroin.
Harrison pled guilty to involvement in the supply of the drugs, worth £7.84m, and in November 2013 was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment.
A confiscation case, which concluded yesterday (thu) at Edinburgh High Court, ordered Harrison to pay back £48,000, which will be re-invested into the local community.
Speaking after the conclusion of the case, Lindsey Miller, Procurator Fiscal for Organised Crime and Counter-Terrorism, said: “Richard Harrison was a key player in an international drug smuggling operation that planned to bring dozens of kilos of heroin onto the streets of Scotland.
“Prosecutors and law enforcement worked very closely across the UK and Italy to prevent the drugs entering the country, and to apprehend the accused and bring them to justice.
“Today, on top of nine years’ imprisonment, Richard Harrison has seen the culmination of a full financial investigation of his finances going back to 2006, and the loss of all his available assets.
“The funds recovered will be re-invested in the community by Scottish Ministers, through the CashBack for Communities programme.”
