UK’s most wanted man plotted to smuggle £76m of cocaine in bananas

James Stevenson, 59, known as The Iceman and one of the UK’s most wanted men, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in a plot to smuggle £76 million worth of cocaine into Britain from Ecuador hidden in banana shipments.

Stevenson pleaded guilty mid-trial at the High Court in Glasgow to two charges directing a serious criminal offence of importation of cocaine, and involvement in organised crime through the production and supply of etizolam, also known as street valium.

The sentencing took place on Wednesday when the case was heard in court.

Four other men who confessed their guilt during the trial are also awaiting sentencing.

Previously, the court was informed that Border Force officers at the Port of Dover intercepted 18 banana shipments addressed to Glasgow Fruit Market between May and September 2020.

These shipments contained cocaine with a purity of 73%, weighing nearly a tonne and carrying a street value of £76 million.

David Bilsland, 67, a fruit market trader, pleaded guilty to agreeing to import cocaine, while co-defendant Paul Bowes, 53, admitted to being involved in organised crime related to the production and supply of class C drug etizolam at various locations including the Nurai Island Resort in Abu Dhabi, London, and Rochester, Kent.

Gerard Carbin, 44, Stevenson’s stepson, and Ryan McPhee, 34, another co-accused, confessed to being involved in organised crime through the production and supply of etizolam.

The plot was foiled by French law enforcement officers who penetrated the encrypted EncroChat network in April 2020.

Lloyd Cross, 32, owner of a vehicle recovery firm, admitted his involvement in the plot prior to the trial and is also set to be sentenced on Wednesday.

The court had earlier heard that Stevenson and Bilsland, a trader at Glasgow Fruit Market, convened at a hotel in Alicante, Spain, to discuss the plan on February 14, 2020.

Messages indicated that Cross and Stevenson met in a park to discuss plans in April 2020, while Bilsland organised banana shipments and conspired with Cross to use their businesses to finance the drug importation, with recovery vehicles used for cash delivery and collection, according to the court.

The court was also informed that arrangements were being made for the delivery of over 13 million street valium pills and during a raid in Rochester in June 2020, equipment capable of producing 258,000 pills per hour was found.

Stevenson was apprehended, released and later absconded to the Netherlands, but he was seized there in 2022 and extradited.

Both Stevenson and Carbin were imprisoned in 2007 for organised crime, and the National Crime Agency listed the older man as one of the UK’s most wanted men in 2022.