News / More than 10 years for Liverpool drug brothers
TWO brothers from Liverpool who mailed heroin worth almost £30,000 to Lerwick by post were jailed for a combined total of more than 10 years at the High Court in Aberdeen on Monday.
Paul Smith, aged 27, admitted sending two consignments of the Class A drug to Shetland between 19 and 21 October 2010 and between 19 and 22 February 2011, the drugs having a maximum street value of £19,770.
His 30 year old brother Anthony pled guilty to sending heroin worth up to £7,890 to Lerwick between 13 January and 22 February last year.
Both men had lengthy criminal records, particularly the elder brother, and were jailed for six years each by judge Lord Uist.
The sentences were backdated to when the pair were first put behind bars on remand, so Anthony Smith received five years and seven months while his brother was given five years and two months.
Lord Uist warned that sentences would have to get harsher if they did not deter others from operating the drugs supply chain from Liverpool to north east Scotland.
“Criminals from Liverpool who are concerned in the supplying of heroin or any other class A drug in this area must come to realise that the game is not worth the candle,” he said.
Local communities in Shetland and Aberdeen were thanked by the police who caught the two men after a complex inquiry under the name Operation Limehouse, covering three force areas in England and Scotland.
Detective inspector Alex Dowall, who led the investigation, said: “These men were intent on flooding the streets of Aberdeen and Shetland with class A drugs and were willing to take great risks in the process in order to turn a profit.”
He said Monday’s convictions should serve as a warning to others intent on bringing drugs into the north east of Scotland.
He added: “It must also be said that the assistance provided by local communities in Aberdeen and Shetland in bring these individuals to justice was invaluable.”
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