Two gang members who helped traffic Class A drugs from Glasgow to sell in Dundee have been jailed for a total of six years.
Kevin Duthie, 23, of Finavon Place, and Alexander Collie, 23, a prisoner in Perth prison, were each jailed for three years at Dundee Sheriff Court on Thursday.
Duthie had thousands of pounds stuffed in his waistband, while Collie was caught with a bag containing heroin, when they were each arrested carrying out their roles within the serious organised crime group.
A tip-off led police to catch Duthie at Dundee Railway Station as he tried to board a train to Glasgow with an envelope containing £6,580 cash hidden in the waistband of his jeans.
Solicitor John Boyle, defending Duthie, said his client was a vulnerable individual who was taken advantage of.
He said Duthie began taking heroin and carried out the crimes after falling into drug debt.
Mr Boyle said: “Albeit he is a very small cog in the machine, he is a part of the machine.”
On the same day, officers saw Collie come out of a Dundee house linked to the drugs group carrying a drawstring bag, which was found to contain five bags of heroin worth around £14,000.
Solicitor Ann Duffy, defending Collie, said her client, was “naive to the grand scale of the operation” he was involved in.
Duthie admitted that, on August 9 last year, at Dundee railway station, Union Street, Finavon Place and elsewhere, he had criminal property, namely a quantity of cash being used to purchase drugs or being the proceeds of the sale of drugs.
Collie pled guilty that, on the same date, at Ballindean Road, Aboyne Avenue, Finavon Place and elsewhere, he was concerned in the supply of heroin.
In passing sentence, Sheriff Alistair Brown told the pair: “Heroin addiction causes untold misery.
“It ruins the lives of addicts and those who love them, parents, partners and children.
“Every day the sheriffs of Dundee see the wreckage of lives blighted by heroin supplied by people like you. The people of Dundee expect the sheriffs of Dundee to deal severely with those involved in drugs.
“The sheriffs of Dundee will not let the people of Dundee down on this.”