A Dundee man caught with almost £50,000 worth of heroin he was transporting to pay off a drug debt has been jailed for 3 years.
Alexander Cruickshank agreed to move almost half a kilo of the class A drug after his family and friends were threatened for his failure to pay the £1,500 he owed dealers.
The 28-year-old did not realise police from the Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit were watching him when the drugs were handed to him in Baxter Park.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard officers raided his home in nearby Baldovan Terrace and found the drugs in an electricity meter cupboard.
Depute fiscal Eilidh Robertson said: “The two packages of brown powder which were found in the Lacoste bag were later analysed and found to contain diamorphine. The purity of one bag was 13% and the other was 14%. The purity of the diamorphine accords with the average purity in Dundee.”
Jonathan Crowe QC, defending, said: “He was offered a quick-fix opportunity to pay off the debt if he was able to pick up drugs and take them to Baldovan Terrace. That would wipe the slate clean. He knew full well what the consequences would be.”
Cruickshank, a prisoner at Perth, admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin at Baldovan Terrace on March 12. He was also ordered to complete 21 months’ unexpired portion of a previous sentence consecutive to the new jail term.