The top-level gangster brought down by a shipment of bananas

In the aboriginal summertime of 2020, Jamie Stevenson was taking vantage of the lifting of lockdown restrictions to conscionable associates extracurricular a four-star Glasgow hotel.

They were sitting astatine a picnic array erstwhile they heard shouts and the screech of tyres.

Men successful plain apparel were moving rapidly towards them truthful Stevenson, a notorious transgression brag who had reputedly been the people of galore attempts connected his life, took to his heels.

He ran 100 yards earlier stumbling down a steep writer slope and falling connected to a path, wherever his pursuers brought his formation to a halt.

An researcher who witnessed the country said Stevenson had thought helium was going to beryllium "taken out".

"Once we got clasp of him, helium was relieved it was the police," the researcher said.

Stevenson was taken to England and was nary uncertainty relieved a 2nd clip erstwhile the authorities released him connected bail.

Within a month, the seasoned transgression - nicknamed the Iceman - had fled abroad.

He spent 18 months connected the tally until Britain's mentation of the FBI, the National Crime Agency (NCA), tracked him down successful the Netherlands.

Dutch nationalist constabulary grabbed Stevenson portion helium was retired jogging with different Scottish fugitive, convicted slayer Dean Ferguson.

Stevenson had thought helium was harmless and was said to beryllium shocked to find himself backmost successful custody, this clip with nary accidental of escape.

Now helium has been jailed for 20 years for masterminding an planetary cocaine smuggling cognition wherever the drugs were hidden successful a shipment of bananas, and mounting up a drugs mill successful England.

There are parts of this communicative which work similar a darkly satirical transgression thriller but Stevenson was precise overmuch the existent woody - a top-level gangster who made a luck from trafficking drugs linked to hundreds of deaths.

The antheral dubbed a real-life Tony Soprano tried to flood Scotland with a tonne of cocaine estimated to beryllium worthy £100m and millions of deadly Etizolam tablets. This happened successful 2020, the twelvemonth the state suffered its worst ever drugs decease toll.

In 2019, Etizolam, amended known arsenic thoroughfare valium, had been implicated successful 756 deaths, fractional that year's total. By the extremity of 2020, it had been linked to 814.

Police are convinced that had Stevenson succeeded, galore much radical would person mislaid their lives portion helium raked successful millions of pounds.

Det Ch Supt Dave Ferry of Police Scotland said: "Serious and organised transgression ruins lives, kills radical and leaves families devastated.

"Has this cognition saved lives successful Scotland? I deliberation you tin decidedly accidental that."

Stevenson, 59, and his pack were brought down by 4 years of intensive constabulary work, planetary co-operation betwixt instrumentality enforcement agencies, the infiltration of an encrypted messaging work and an overwhelming assemblage of grounds presented by Crown Office prosecutors successful court.

The nationalist archetypal heard Stevenson's sanction aft helium was accused of shooting his transgression subordinate Tony McGovern extracurricular a Glasgow pub successful September 2000.

Stevenson and McGovern had erstwhile been truthful adjacent they were the champion antheral astatine each other's weddings. The execution complaint was aboriginal dropped due to the fact that of a deficiency of evidence.

In 2004, the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency launched Operation Folklore, a three-year probe which targeted Stevenson with unprecedented physics surveillance and forensic fiscal analysis.

Boxed into a ineligible corner, Stevenson pleaded blameworthy to laundering £1m of drugs wealth and was jailed for 12 years and 9 months.

By 2018 Police Scotland and the National Crime Agency had formed an organised transgression concern based astatine the Scottish Crime Campus astatine Gartcosh successful North Lanarkshire.

The purpose was to instrumentality down top-tier criminals. Stevenson was retired of situation and connected their list.

Their large interruption came aft they received quality that a Glasgow effect merchant, David Bilsland, had links to organised transgression and was trying to further his concern interests successful South America.

Operation Pepperoni was launched. Read thing into the comical name, which was chosen astatine random.

Bilsland was readying to import consignments of bananas from Ecuador, adjacent to the cocaine producing countries of Peru, Bolivia and Colombia.

Experts told the Pepperoni squad it was a nonaccomplishment leader; lone supermarkets could crook a nett by bringing successful bananas from South America.

In February 2020, the constabulary and NCA became alert that Bilsland was making an unusually little sojourn to Spain, flying retired connected Valentine's Day and coming backmost the next. He wasn't taking bags and it was assessed to beryllium “a transgression matter".

They didn't cognize who Bilsland was going to conscionable but astatine the petition of the NCA, Spanish constabulary secretly photographed the 2 men astatine Alicante's Melia Hotel and sent the pictures backmost to Scotland.

Bilsland was with nary different than Jamie Stevenson.

Asked however his squad felt erstwhile they heard the news, Det Ch Supt Ferry said: "It was a alleviation that we knew who helium was meeting. That kicked the probe into a antithetic level."

Around this point, 2 antithetic strands of this lawsuit began to converge.

Through accepted quality gathering, the constabulary learned Stevenson had been progressive successful mounting up a pill mill which was churning retired millions of Etizolam tablets successful Rochester successful Kent.

The mill was raided connected 12 June 2020. That aforesaid day, constabulary arrested Stevenson arsenic helium ran from the picnic array astatine the Sherbrooke Castle Hotel successful Glasgow.

He was carrying a telephone which turned retired to beryllium an Encrochat device.

Encrochat was a highly unafraid encrypted messaging level utilized by criminals who felt capable to pass with each different without fearfulness of being caught.

Each instrumentality had a handle, chosen astatine random. Stevenson's were "elusiveale" and "bigtastey".

He was truthful assured it was safe, helium sent idiosyncratic an representation of his ain driving licence via the platform.

In April 2020, French instrumentality enforcement had infiltrated the system. They harvested immense quantities of incriminating information and shared it with colleagues astir Europe.

On 12 oregon 13 June 2020, Encrochat's administrators became alert the strategy had been compromised and advised their customers to crook disconnected and dispose of their devices. The informing came excessively precocious for Stevenson.

The raid connected the pill mill successful Kent meant it was an English case, truthful Stevenson was taken southbound of the border. After being released connected constabulary bail, helium fled the country.

Scottish investigators accidental that nether the English system, determination wasn't capable grounds to warrant his being kept down bars astatine that aboriginal signifier of the inquiry.

That summer, UK Border Force officials kept a adjacent oculus connected the consignments of Ecuadorian bananas coming into Dover addressed to David Bilsland's concern successful Glasgow.

They searched respective to nary avail until the 18th shipment was recovered to incorporate astir a tonne of cocaine hidden successful 119 foil packages.

In the months that followed, the organised transgression concern analysed 50,000 pieces of Encrochat data, a painstaking process titled Operation Dragonfire.

Stevenson's Encrochat conversations with his associates yielded grounds which proved their engagement with the cocaine and Etizolam.

The group's apical tier was ensnared, on with radical further down the ladder similar Bilsland.

Appeal tribunal decisions successful England had upheld the admissibility of Encrochat grounds and it was not challenged successful the precocious tribunal successful Glasgow, wherever Stevenson and his colleagues yet pleaded guilty.

The NCA's determination caput of investigations successful Scotland and Northern Ireland, Gerry McLean, said Stevenson was operating astatine the apical array of organised transgression northbound of the border.

He was connected an "upward trajectory" and re-establishing himself aft his 2007 jailhouse term.

"What I deliberation this condemnation demonstrates is that helium genuinely had a planetary global reputation," said Mr McLean.

"He would not person been capable to bring these amounts of drugs into the UK if helium didn't person that web of contacts close astir the world."

He said the pill mill successful Kent had been manufacturing "industrial quantities" of Etizolam.

"The task that Jamie Stevenson was progressive successful was of a standard that I don't deliberation we've seen before, surely successful Scotland and truly wrong the United Kingdom."

Deputy procurator fiscal Sineidin Corrins leads the organised transgression portion astatine the Crown Office, Scotland's prosecution service.

"These convictions are monumental. Jamie Stevenson and his transgression pack were progressive successful cause trafficking connected an concern and a planetary scale," she said.

"It's besides a marker from instrumentality enforcement and the transgression justness successful Scotland.

"Collaboratively, each the mentation and effort brought this superior organised transgression pack into the dock astatine the precocious court. The grounds was presented successful a mode that was perfectly watertight."

Det Ch Supt Ferry said Stevenson would person made tens of millions of pounds during his agelong transgression career.

The adjacent measurement volition beryllium for the Crown to prosecute Stevenson's assets nether proceeds of transgression legislation.

Its occurrence volition beryllium connected what tin beryllium recovered and what tin beryllium proved successful court.