Eight years behind bars for Glasgow drug boss
41 year old Peter Fox admitted supplying heroin and cocaine in the Calton area of the city
A member of a notorious crime clan is behind bars after running a huge drug empire in the east end of Glasgow.
The lucrative operation headed by Peter Fox allowed him to snap up expensive jewellery and Rolex watches – some at a £18,000 a time.
Police watched more than 2,000 people – mainly desperate users – turn up for their daily fix at the Fox family headquarters in the Calton area.
The 41 year-old was finally snared during a large scale probe – with detectives estimating he raked in £42,000-a-month.
Fox has been jailed for eight years at the High Court in Glasgow after he pled guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine.
The family had built up a fearsome reputation in the city's east end over decades.
Their house in Millroad Street in the Calton was notorious for drug dealing.
The probe into Peter Fox was inadvertantly sparked by an outbreak of botulism in Glasgow in late 2014.
The condition was thought to be linked to contaminated heroin.
The dodgy drug was believed to have come from dealers in the Calton.
As a result, Operation Kapparis was set up – and eventually Fox being targeted in May last year.
He was not linked to the botulism, but police found he was involved in “substantial” drug dealing.
As officers kept watch on the Fox drug HQ, a total of 2,009 people were recorded turning up to the house during a period of just 15 days.
Fox was recorded arriving each morning in a Volkswagen Golf sparking a flurry of addicts to turn up for their fix.
Sometimes there was already a queue waiting for him to show up.
The drug dealing was interupted when a closure order was slapped on the house on November 6.
Prosecutor Stewart Ronnie said: “Fox never appeared back at Millroad Street. The footage showed a drastic reduction over the next few days of people attending.”
In late January 2016, police also targeted a property in nearby Abercromby Street where an associate of Fox stayed.
Officers raided the flat – Fox was there, but he fled after hiding behind a door.
Despite him escaping, he left his iPhone and bank card in the flat.
Mr Ronnie told how the mobile was “constantly ringing” for around 45 minutes.
Officers also found meantime £360 of cocaine and £1550 of heroin.
A warrant was later issued for the arrest of Fox.
It was in September this year that detectives swooped on the home in the city's Tollcross.
But, he was not there with only his wife and children inside.
However, police soon found evidence of how crime had funded a luxury lifestyle.
Mr Ronnie said “multiple” Rolex watches were seized – 11 of them had a total worth of more than £80,000.
Expensive jewellery was also found as well receipts for goods totalling almost £23,000.
Another £4,400 in cash was discovered dotted around the house.
It was 24 hours later Fox was finally snared after being spotted by police in a car in the east end.
A drugs expert described Fox of dealing on “a significant scale for massive profit”.
The court heard that if an average of 150 people a day were buying heroin “tenner bags”, this could generate £42,000 a month.
Mr Ronnie: “The evidence points to his ongoing involvement in the supply of Class A drugs over a period of around 7 months and again on September 1.
“If operating at this level throughout, it would generate income amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds.”