Drug trafficker caught with £2.5m of cocaine in car after police chase jailed

A drug trafficker who was found to have nearly £2.5 million of cocaine in the boot of his car when he was stopped by police after a high-speed chase has been jailed for five years.

Dylan Nicol, 24, from Dundee, drove at speeds of up to 120mph to evade arrest during the pursuit along the A90 and Kingsway West in Dundee in February, prosecutors said.

After he was detained, officers found 13 packages of cocaine in the boot of his Volkswagen Golf, estimated to be worth up to £2,447,900.

On October 25, Nicol pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine, and a charge of dangerous driving.

This was a highly successful prosecution which has removed a large quantity of drugs from our streets and caused significant disruption to the local supply chain

He was sentenced at the High Court in Inverness to five years in prison on Friday, and now faces confiscation action under the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover illegally-obtained money, the Crown Office said.

Moira Orr, who leads on major crime for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said: “This was a highly successful prosecution which has removed a large quantity of drugs from our streets and caused significant disruption to the local supply chain.

“Dylan Nicol will now spend time in prison paying for his crimes thanks to an extensive police operation, working with COPFS, to investigate and disrupt a network of drug supply.

“Drug trafficking wrecks lives and blights communities where drugs take hold.

“The Crown will continue working with the police and other agencies as a member of Scotland’s Serious and Organised Crime Taskforce to ensure that these crimes are detected and those responsible prosecuted using all measures at our disposal.”

Prosecutors said that on February 19, police trailed Nicol’s car as it headed east on the A90 from Perth to Dundee at 70mph, over suspicions the vehicle contained a quantity of drugs.

At the same time other officers deployed a “stinger” device for puncturing tyres just before the Swallow roundabout in Dundee, where the A90 becomes Kingsway West.

Meanwhile, near Longforgan, officers in three marked police vehicles surrounded Nicol’s car and activated their blue lights, signalling for him to stop.

Instead, Nicol accelerated to speeds of up to 120mph and was seen swerving in and out of traffic before hitting the stinger, which punctured his tyres.

He continued driving at 80mph and went through a red light before officers were able to surround him when the car came to a halt, and arrested him as he tried to flee.

A search of the car revealed a cardboard box containing 13 taped block packages, which specialist officers later verified as cocaine with a street value of £2,447,900 if divided into one-gram packages.