A 47-YEAR-OLD man who was said to have acted as a courier on a drugs run from England to Dundee involving £70,000 worth of heroin appeared before Lord Brodie at the High Court in Forfar yesterday.

Michael McEwan, described as a prisoner at Perth, admitted that on October 3, on the A9 Stirling to Perth road and elsewhere in the UK he was concerned in the supply of heroin.

The court was told police received information that the accused might be involved in bringing controlled drugs from England to Dundee and travelling in a Renault 19 car.

He was seen at 9.45 pm on the Sunday driving north near Dunblane.

When he was stopped police saw a polythene package on the rear seat and police suspected that drugs were in the package. He was later strip-searched and two polythene wraps were found concealed on his body.

The accused said they contained heroin and that he had paid £200 for them, although police thought the drugs were worth £500.

The car was searched and police recovered a handbag containing three wraps, a cling film wrap, a roll of black bin liners, insulating tape, £25 in cash, a black bag containing £8, and another black polythene package contained a plastic tub, which was sealed.

They found inside a brown substance which contained 448 grammes of heroin with a potential maximum value of £71,680, and which was 30% pure.

When the accused was interviewed he initially denied knowledge of the drugs.

Police also discovered the handbag contained £565, and Mr Prentice said drugs squad officers clearly viewed this as a substantial quantity of heroin intended for distribution in the Dundee area.

Advocate Tim Niven-Smith said that the accused was a courier for more serious criminals, a conduit for others, but he conceded this was a substantial role.

He said that McEwan had been a courier for financial gain and expected to receive £2000 in two stages. There was an up-front payment prior to obtaining the drugs from England of £1000 and a further £1000 to be paid on completion of the journey.

The case was deferred, for a social inquiry report, to February 1 at Edinburgh High Court.