An oil worker has been forced to sell a house to pay back more than £32,000 profit he made from dealing drugs.
Jason Cargill agreed to hand the money over to the Crown under Proceeds of Crime legislation after being jailed for 18 months.
Cargill was working offshore in the oil and gas sector when he ran a sideline peddling cannabis with one of his friends.
He and his associate admitted being involved in the drugs operation worth around £50,000 in the Angus village of Inverkeilor during 2017.
At Dundee Sheriff Court on Thursday, fiscal depute Sarah High confirmed Cargill had paid £32,310.71 to meet the confiscation demand.
Cargill’s solicitor confirmed his client had sold a property that belonged to him and had transferred the full amount due to the Crown.
Police raid
It was previously revealed at the same court police had received intelligence relating to suspicious activity from the associate’s home.
A search warrant was granted and police officers found a cannabis cultivation.
A total of 77 plants with a potential street value of £48,510 were discovered.
Hundreds of text messages between Cargill and his friend were also discovered, which made multiple references to the sale of drugs.
Cargill, of Cairnie Loan, Arbroath, previously admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis at the Old Telephone Exchange, Hawkhill, Inverkeilor, between May and August 2017.
Jailed
Defence solicitor Billy Rennie said Cargill has a previous conviction for drug offences and dabbled in dealing in a bid to appease his friend because of a previous failed drug scheme.
Mr Rennie said: “He does state this was done to pacify the reaction to his loss of what he had been involved in before.
“He accepts the culpability but he’s not the main organiser, the main player as it were.”
Sheriff Tom Hughes said there would be “a public outcry” if he did not send Cargill to prison and he jailed him for 18 months.
He told Cargill: “You are not a stranger to the court.
“What makes matters worse is you are someone who is in a privileged position.
“You have actually got quite a good income and here you are dabbling in drugs to augment your income.
“What you are actually doing is despicable.
“In this court, on a daily basis, we have to witness the misery that people like you bring.”
