Jamie ‘Iceman’ Stevenson’s right-hand man Lloyd Cross was jailed for six years for his role in a £100m plot to smuggle cocaine from Ecuador in banana boxes.
The former football hooligan was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday. He had earlier pled guilty to his involvement in the plot, and being involved in organised crime, before the trial started.
Cross, 32, was a self-styled “top boy” among Rangers fan group Union Bears before he climbed the ranks of the international drugs racket alongside one of Scotland’s biggest criminal kingpins.
Photos and video emerged in 2018 showing Cross involved in a conflict between police and Rangers fans in Maribor, Slovenia, ahead of a Europa League match.
He was sidelined from the “ultra” group after his gangland connections became common knowledge and his focus turned towards the international drugs racket.
Cross had also fallen foul of Rangers fans after he was blamed for the leaking of the wording of a banner in 2017 to the rival Green Brigade – which allowed the Celtic ultras to mock their opponents.
One source told the Record: “Cross saw himself as a top boy in the Rangers support, always at the front of the crowd at away games and always on the look-out for bother. He was the kind who’d revel in a riot.
“He also had a high profile on Twitter and was known for noising up Celtic fans.
“But all that stopped, presumably when he stepped into the big time in drugs smuggling. He disappeared from Twitter and most traces of him disappeared from social media.
“It is obvious someone had a word with him about his profile. Cross was a blingy, flashy guy with a big mouth and half of Glasgow knew he was connected to Jamie Stevenson because he’s known him most of his life.
“He drew attention, including that of the police, as there would have been an extensive intelligence file on him.
“It wasn’t good from either the mob side or the ultra fan side that he had a public profile, as both are very aware of surveillance.
“But even when he appeared at the High Court in Glasgow he drove a Porsche, which sums him up. He’s a guy who liked to be seen to be wealthy and splashing cash.”
Cross drove to court in a Porsche Cayenne, before being remanded after pleading guilty.
Mastermind Jamie Stevenson was caged for 20 years for his role in the international drugs racket and another charge relating to the production and supply of etizolam, often known as street Valium.
Vehicle recovery firm owner Lloyd Cross, 32, pleaded guilty to involvement in the plot before the trial and was also given a six-year sentence.
Fruit market trader David Bilsland, 68, and Paul Bowes, 53, were also sentenced to six years.
Stevenson’s stepson, Gerard Carbin, 44, was sentenced to seven years and co-accused Ryan McPhee, 34, was given a four-year prison sentence.
The plot was smashed by French law enforcement officers who infiltrated the encrypted EncroChat network in April 2020.
The court heard Stevenson and Bilsland, a trader at Glasgow Fruit Market, met at a hotel in Alicante, Spain, to discuss the plan on February 14, 2020, which was believed to be the first time the two men had met.
Messages suggested Cross and Stevenson met in a park to discuss plans in April 2020, while Bilsland arranged banana consignments and colluded with Cross to use their businesses to fund the importation of drugs, with recovery vehicles used to deliver and collect cash, the court heard.
The court heard Cross used his vehicle recovery firm, LM Recovery, to facilitate the movement of drugs in the UK. He also held directorships of other companies, which gave him the appearance, on paper, of a successful businessman.
The court was also told delivery was being arranged of more than 13 million street valium pills and during a raid in Rochester in June 2020, equipment capable of producing 258,000 pills per hour was discovered.
The judge described Cross’s role in the cocaine operation as “significant”.
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