A £24,000 heroin haul was discovered at a remote farm on the outskirts of Dundee by unwitting enthusiasts playing an online treasure-hunting game.
A pair of geocaching enthusiasts were hunting “treasures” hidden on a rarely used rural road in Angus, using GPS technology, when they found a black rucksack stuffed inside a wall.
Geocaching requires participants to use internet clues and navigation techniques to find hidden containers called “caches”, which are scattered all over the world and have items such as toys or trinkets inside them.
Initially, the geocachers thought they had found such a container when they came across the abandoned rucksack hidden inside a wall at Omachie Farm, in Kingennie, on August 27 2016.
However, when they opened the bag they found scales and plastic bags containing drugs.
They took the bag to Broughty Ferry Police Station later in the day, where forensic analysis linked DNA found on the knotted bags of the drug to Albert Ramsay of Dundee.
He was arrested and, dumbfounded, told police he “hadn’t sold heroin for years”.
He faces a jail term after he admitted, at Dundee Sheriff Court, being concerned in the supply of diamorphine.
Depute fiscal Saima Rasheed said: “The exact location was within a stone dyke within a farming field.
“It is a remote location and used by occasional ramblers and dog walkers and by agricultural vehicles.
“The witnesses were following co-ordinates to a cache near the locus.
“They saw a black rucksack, but when they opened it they became suspicious that they had found illegal substances and contacted the police.”
A total of four plastic bags of heroin, weighing 242g and with a street value of £24,200 were discovered.
DNA evidence linked the items to 50-year-old Ramsay, of Hilltown Court, who said he had never seen the bag, did not have any knowledge of it and had not sold drugs in years.
His defence solicitor, Kevin Hampton, said: “His position is that he has no recollection of it, but he pleads guilty because his DNA is on the bag.
“He says he did not put it in that location.
“He is under no illusion as to custody being a possibility.”
Ramsay has previous convictions in relation to the Misuse of Drugs Act dating back to 2012 and was last in prison in 2009.
Sheriff Lorna Drummond deferred sentencing until October 29 for criminal justice and social work reports.
She said: “There was an awful lot of heroin involved.
“Custody is at the forefront of my mind but I will call for reports, given that your last conviction was some time ago now.”
Ramsay was released on bail in the meantime.
