Drug couriers caught with £6.8m of heroin are jailed for five years

Two drug couriers have been jailed for more than five yeas after being caught with £6.8m worth of heroin on a trip from the Midlands to Scotland.

Martin Lauder, 29, and David McShane, 28, were stopped by police in a hired Vauxhall Insignia on the M74 near Lesmahagow, South Lanarkshire.

Police seized two bags from the car which held 30kg of high-purity heroin.

They admitted being concerned in the supply of the class A drug at the High Court in Glasgow.

• Men attempt to ferry £6.8m heroin haul to Scotland

Judge Lady Dorrian jailed the pair for five years and three months.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, she said they would have faced sentences of seven years imprisonment, but for their guilty pleas.

Lauder, of Bearsden, and McShane, of Maryhill in Glasgow, earlier admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin on 11 and 12 July.

Organised crime

The offence was aggravated by a connection with serious organised crime.

The court heard that police received intelligence that the pair had travelled from the Glasgow area to a hotel in Coventry to pick up the drugs.

McShane had hired a Vauxhall Insignia car to make the round trip and the pair were caught on the hotel's CCTV.

As they drove back north on 12 July, police pulled the vehicle over on the M74 near to Lesmahagow.

The pair were taken to Motherwell police station and the hire car was also driven there for a search.

Two bags were found in the boot which contained 60 500g (1lb) packages of heroin, some of which was as high as 61% pure.

The court heard that intelligence suggested Lauder and McShane were acting as couriers to pay off debts.