A sheriff blasted a drugs courier who brought heroin to Dundee, as he jailed him for four years.
Garry O’Prey was one of three people arrested on February 15 in an intelligence-led operation on the A90, near the Swallow roundabout, Dundee Sheriff Court heard.
Sheriff Alastair Brown told O’Prey, from Glasgow, that drug deaths in Dundee are the highest in Scotland and those concerned in the supply of opiates “must understand they will not be dealt with gently”.
Fiscal depute Charmaine Gilmartin told the court police acting on a tip-off observed the accused driving towards Dundee, and stopped the car, which had a female passenger in the front seat and a child in the rear.
O’Prey immediately told the officers: “They’ve got nothing to do with this, I’m going away for a long time for this.”
The fiscal said two plastic bags containing brown powder were found in the footwell of the passenger seat, containing 558 grammes of heroin, of 16-17% purity — above the average street purity of 10%.
Drugs experts believed it was above the level of personal use and if sold would be worth between £9,000-£13,500.
Solicitor Neal McCheyne said O’Prey was serving a period of recall on licence and his earliest release date was September 5 this year. He added: “He knows where he’s going.”
O’Prey lost his scaffolding job and, knowing people involved in crime “a proposal was put to him which he foolishly accepted”, Mr McCheyne said. O’Prey, 29, of Finlas Street in Glasgow, admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin.
Sheriff Brown said: “Drug deaths in Dundee are running at a higher rate than anywhere else in Scotland — twice the national average.
“Almost all of these deaths are due to opiates (heroin).”
https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/dundee-drugs-crisis-number-of-people-killed-by-substance-abuse-in-city-reaches-all-time-high/
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