Man caught with almost £100,000 of cannabis at Edinburgh Airport after agreeing to take friend's case
A drug dealer was caught with almost £100,000 of cannabis after he agreed to take a suitcase through Edinburgh Airport for a friend.
Tyler Stechling, 20, was found with the huge amount of herbal matter stuffed into his luggage after he was stopped by Border Force officials at the capital airport in January this year.
Stechling attempted to smuggle 40 vacuum-sealed packages containing almost 24 kilograms of the Class B drug after agreeing to bring the case into the country for a friend.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told Stechling, from Burnley, Lancashire, had flown with the large drug haul from Thailand to Dubai before boarding a flight to Edinburgh.
The court heard custom officials had carried out “a routine examination” of luggage from the Emirates Dubai flight at around 7.30pm on January 17 this year.
Prosecutor Xander van der Scheer said: “A black suitcase was identified as being consistent with having packages of an organic substance.“
A request was made to intercept the passenger who owned that suitcase and the accused was seen to pick up the suitcase. He had travelled from Thailand via Dubai.
“The accused was intercepted and acknowledged it was his bag. When asked, the accused indicated he was unable to open the bag and his mate had packed the bag and his mate would open it.”
The court was told the suitcase was eventually opened and found to contain just one towel along with 40 packages containing the cannabis.
The fiscal depute said the total weight of the drugs was 23.8 kilos and the value amounted to £90,440.
Sheriff Christopher Dickson deferred sentence for the preparation of a social work report and a restriction of liberty order assessment to next month. Sheriff Dickson said: “You must appreciate the high value of the drugs, but I will continue your bail at the moment.”
Stechling pleaded guilty to a charge of being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of controlled drugs at Edinburgh Airport on January 17 this year when he appeared at the city’s sheriff court on Tuesday, July 29.