A Liverpool man caught by Perth police in a £100k heroin plot has been ordered to pay back just under £10,000.
Blayne Gray was one of three county line dealers who tried to flood the Fair City with thousands of pounds worth of class A drugs.
The 24-year-old, along with fellow Liverpudlian Max Donovan and Perth man George Crone, last year admitted their roles in the 30-week operation and were jailed for a total of nearly five-and-a-half years.
Following their sentencing, prosecutors launched confiscation action to claw back money the trio made from the illegal enterprise.
Last month, a proceeds of crime hearing at Perth Sheriff Court heard Crone had benefited from his role as delivery driver by £17,350.
Donovan, who had been caught red-handed with Crone transporting almost two kilos of heroin, was ordered to pay £38,820.
Prosecutors have agreed Gray – who had Covid when the last hearing called – must pay back £9,883.75.
It is effectively the sum of money he was caught with after police observed him stashing away 168g of heroin in a Tupperware box, under a bush near Inveralmond Retail Park in March 2020.
The court heard the 24-year-old’s “criminal benefit conduct” – how much he personally made from the operation – was just under £14,000.
The settlement was reached ahead of a proof hearing scheduled for Perth Sheriff Court.
‘Animated phone call’
The court previously heard how the three men were being monitored by an undercover surveillance unit.
Gray was spotted acting suspiciously on a plot wasteground near the Lade.
Officers saw him using binoculars to check the area.
When he left in a Land Rover, they checked the spot and found the plastic tub with bags of heroin and about £7,000 cash.
Police watched as Gray returned later that day.
He was seen making “an animated phone call” after being unable to find his stash.
Gray was carrying about £2,000 in cash when he was stopped by officers as he left the scene.
Guilty pleas
Crone and Donovan were also seen handing over a bag stuffed with more than £33,000 in cash.
Fiscal depute Michael Sweeney said the doorstep exchange was intercepted and they were found with heroin with a street value of £65,000.
The gang’s fingerprints and DNA were found on the cash and drugs.
The total amount of money recovered from the trial was £48,483.
Crone, of Newhouse Road, Perth, admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin between September 10 and 23, 2020.
His solicitor Linda Clark said he had been earlier “involved in the heroin scene” but had cleaned himself up and was attending college.
He was jailed for 23 months.
Donovan, 25, of Cottesbrook Road, Liverpool, admitted being involved in the supply of the drugs between February 18 and September 23 2020.
He also admitted concealing criminal property and was jailed for two years.
Gray, 23, of Culme Road, Liverpool, pled guilty to being involved on March 19 and 20 2020, and was locked up for 18 months.
Following the sentencing, Detective Inspector Julia Ogilvie, of the Police Scotland Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit, said: “We need the public to keep passing on information so we can disrupt these criminals.”
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