Edinburgh trafficker caught with cocaine in fishing waders to hand over £112k crime profits

A drug trafficker who was caught with high purity cocaine hidden in fishing waders and a stun gun disguised as a police torch has been ordered to hand over more than £100,000 crime profits.

The High Court in Edinburgh.

Armed police turned up at Neil Flynn's home in Edinburgh and the weapon and drugs were recovered after a search of the house and an adjacent property. Search warrants for two properties owned by Flynn in Glendevon Avenue were obtained following police intelligence.

More than three quarters a kilo of cocaine was found hidden inside a pair of waders at the other property along with two sets of scales.

The High Court in Edinburgh.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that 778 grams of cocaine recovered was tested and found to be 82 per cent pure. This is far in excess of the normal level of purity for the drug in east Scotland where at street level it was on average 28 per cent pure at the time.

The court heard the drugs had the potential to be worth more than £90,000 if cut into gram deals.

The stun gun was found along with a carry case for the electronic device which was also marked 'police'.

During an interview, first offender Flynn confirmed he owned the two properties and said he lived in one and used the other for storage.

Flynn admitted being concerned in the supply of the Class A drug at the two addresses in Glendevon Avenue on February 6 in 2017, when he appeared in court last year.

He also pled guilty to an offence under firearms legislation of illegally possessing a stun gun disguised as a torch. He was subsequently jailed for five years for the firearms crime and two and a half years for the drugs offence.

The Crown brought an action against Flynn under proceeds of crime legislation to seize any illicit profits he made.

His counsel, Craig Findlater, told Lord Uist during a brief hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh that a settlement has been reached in the process and a confiscation order should be made for £112,136, including money seized at the time by police.

The judge pointed out that Flynn's benefit figure from general criminal conduct was exactly the same sum. Flynn was given six months to pay the order.