Leading drug gang member jailed for 15 years on Isle of Man

James Spotswood was jailed for 15 years for drugs offences

A dealer who played a leading role in an organised crime gang that imported cocaine and cannabis to the Isle of Man has been jailed for 15 years.

James Spotswood, of Wirral on Merseyside, was connected to cocaine hidden in a microwave in August 2021.

Douglas Courthouse heard he had also been linked the importation of "significant quantities" of cocaine and cannabis on a separate occasion.

Spotswood, 35, was also banned from the island for five years after release.

The court heard Spotswood was arrested after his phone number was linked to a number of calls and messages with two other people involved in importing cocaine stashed inside the appliance, which was intercepted by police.

Kirsty Quilliam, 40, and Thomas McBurnie, 25, were sentenced in June to five years and eight months and seven years and 10 months respectively.

Douglas Courthouse was told James Spotswood was a leading member in an organised crime gang

The phone number linked to Spotswood had exchanged multiple calls and messages with the pair on both the 5 and 6 of August that year, the court heard.

Spotswood was previously jailed in September 2021 for money laundering offences linked to drugs.

'Commercial scale'

The court was told the 35-year-old had also been linked to the importation of about £78,000 of cannabis and cocaine with a street value of between £99,000 and £142,000 on a separate occasion.

He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of being concerned in the importation of cocaine and one of being concerned in the importation of cannabis.

Deemster Graeme Cook said he had been involved in importing the drugs on a "commercial scale".

While it was accepted he was not "the lead" member of the gang, he was clearly "a leading member" of it, he said.

Manx police had done an "excellent job" in working with the police organised crime unit in the north west region to catch Spotswood as part of a cross-border operation, he added.

Spotswood was one of several people arrested as part of Operation Achilles, which had focussed on an Isle of Man and Merseyside-based organised crime group since 2020.

Another leading member of the gang, 27-year-old Kyle Molyneux, was last week jailed for 20 years for a string of offences linked to drug dealing.

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