A Perth man arrested during a European-wide police drugs investigation is fighting extradition.
Lorry driver Raymond Urquhart, 51, is wanted by Belgian authorities over his alleged involvement in transporting cocaine and MDMA across international borders.
He was apprehended last month at his home on Dunkeld Road, Perth, during a joint operation by officers from the Police Scotland Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, Europol, and the Belgian Police.
During a short hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursdayday, Urquhart’s lawyer Stephen Mannifield said they would be contesting any attempt to send him toBelgium to stand trial.
The court was told that Urquhart does not have the funds to conduct his defence and extradition battle and would beseeking legal aid.
A defence request for Urquhart to be bailed to his home address inPerth was refused by Sheriff AlistairNoble after the prosecution told the court the authorities in Belgium were seeking his extradition for his alleged role as part of “an international criminal gang” smuggling drugs into Scotland.
At an earlier hearing the court was told that European police officers hadintercepted telephone calls betweenUrquhart and an unnamed Belgian man.
Subsequently drugs officers in the Netherlands seized a consignment of MDMA. A swoop on the Belgian man’s house recovered a gun and cocaine.Lorry driver Raymond Urquhart, 51, is wanted by the Belgian authorities over his alleged involvement in transporting cocaine and MDMA across international borders.
He was apprehended last month at his home in Dunkeld Road, Perth, during a joint operation by officers from the Police Scotland Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, Europol, and the Belgian Police.
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