The feds finally shut down a heavily fortified drug den in Greenock, known as 'the shop'. Five members of a local crime gang were banged up after French authorities cracked the Encrochat messaging service. Lee Docherty, 37, Ian Millar, 39, Brendan Gillan, 32, his dad Daniel Gillan, 60, and Christopher McKellar, 44, were all nicked in a major raid.
The crew ran their drug empire from a block of flats with reinforced metal doors and CCTV cameras. They dealt cocaine, heroin, and Valium pills, raking in around £150,000 worth of drugs and £12,775 in dirty cash. The gang used Encrochat to coordinate their operations, but when the feds got in, it was game over.
At the High Court in Glasgow, they all pleaded guilty to serious organised crime charges and were handed a total of 31 years and eight months behind bars. Prosecutor Alexander Sutherland said, 'They ran it like a drugs supermarket, with heavy metal doors and CCTV to keep an eye on who was coming and going.'