'Iceman' crime boss masterminded plot to smuggle £100m of cocaine in banana boxes

A notorious crime boss who masterminded a plot to smuggle £100m of cocaine from Ecuador in boxes of bananas has been jailed.

James Stevenson, 59, known as 'The Iceman', pleaded guilty midway through a trial at the High Court in Glasgow to two charges: of directing a serious criminal offence of importation of cocaine, and of being involved in organised crime through the production and supply of etizolam, often known as street Valium, the Daily Record reports.

He was jailed for 20 years when the case called for sentencing at the court on Wednesday. Four other men who admitted their guilt mid-trial are also due to be sentenced.

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The court previously heard Border Force officers at the Port of Dover seized 18 consignments of bananas addressed to Glasgow Fruit Market between May and September 2020.

They contained cocaine with a purity of 73%, weighing almost a tonne and with a street value of £76 million.

Fruit market trader David Bilsland, 67, entered a guilty plea to a charge of agreeing to import cocaine and co-accused Paul Bowes, 53, pleaded guilty to being involved in organised crime linked to the production and supply of class C drug etizolam at a string of premises including the Nurai Island Resort in Abu Dhabi, in London and in Rochester, Kent.

Stevenson's stepson, Gerard Carbin, 44, and co-accused Ryan McPhee, 34, admitted being involved in organised crime through the production and supply of etizolam.

The plot was smashed by French law enforcement officers who infiltrated the encrypted EncroChat network in April 2020.

Vehicle recovery firm owner Lloyd Cross, 32, pleaded guilty to involvement in the plot before the trial, and is also due to be sentenced on Wednesday.

The court previously heard Stevenson and Bilsland, a trader at Glasgow Fruit Market, met at a hotel in Alicante, Spain, to discuss the plan on February 14, 2020.

Messages suggested Cross and Stevenson met in a park to discuss plans in April 2020, while Bilsland arranged banana consignments and colluded with Cross to use their businesses to fund the importation of drugs, with recovery vehicles used to deliver and collect cash, the court heard.

The court was also told delivery was being arranged of more than 13 million street valium pills and during a raid in Rochester in June 2020, equipment capable of producing 258,000 pills per hour was discovered.

Stevenson was arrested, released and later fled to the Netherlands, but he was captured there in 2022 and extradited.

Stevenson and Carbin were both jailed in 2007 for organised crime, and the National Crime Agency named the older man as one of the UK's most wanted men in 2022.

Deputy Crown Agent Kenny Donnelly, who leads the fight against serious organised crime for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said: "James Stevenson and his criminal associates were involved in drug trafficking on an industrial and global scale."

"But they have been brought to justice thanks to an extensive operation involving Police Scotland and the National Crime Agency, working with COPFS, to investigate and dismantle their network of drug supply."

This also included Stevenson being directly involved in the manufacturing of millions of Eitzolam tablets at a pill factory in Kent.

"Our message is clear: we will leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of drug traffickers."

"They will be caught, they will be prosecuted, and they will be brought to account for their crimes through the courts. The sentences imposed reflect the gravity of the offences committed by Stevenson and his co-accused."

"It was clear from the EncroChat messages that, as the ringleader, he directed the group. The cocaine they were planning to distribute would have undoubtedly contributed to misery in our communities."

"These convictions are testament to the forensic and meticulous work undertaken by specialist Crown Office prosecutors to bring Stevenson and his five co-accused to justice and I would like to commend their efforts."