Three men facing jail after being caught red-handed mixing cocaine
Three men were caught red-handed mixing cocaine during a police raid on a garage, a court was told.
Three men were caught red-handed mixing cocaine during a police raid on a garage, a court was told. George McKenzie, 31, Christopher Martin, 36, and Matthew Graham, 35, all from Glasgow, admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine on May 12, 2015. Advocate depute Tim Niven-Smith, prosecuting, said that the trio were snared following a undercover surveillance operation centred on McKenzie. The cocaine recovered from the rest room of the Autoshine garage at Heatherknowe Farm, Glasgow, had a maximum street value of £252,000. A fourth accused Mark Agnew, 23, from Greenock, admitted couriering cocaine with a maximum street value of £100,000. Mr Niven-Smith revealed that McKenzie, Martin and Graham all have previous convictions for drug offences and Graham was out on licence at the time. The court heard that police raided the garage after stopping Agnew on the A737 near Johnstone at 2.40pm and finding that he had a holdall containing cocaine. When they approached the garage rest room at 4pm they could hear a loud whirring noise coming from it. They found McKenzie, who was wearing blue latex gloves, down on his knees watching a food blender that was mixing cocaine, benzocaine and caffeine together. Graham and Martin were also wearing blue latex gloves. And facing towards the blender. In the rest room police found a hydraulic press and moulds, digital scales and plastic bowls containing white powder. A police drugs expert was of the opinion that drugs were being mixed and adulterated at the premises. The court heard that the drugs seized were of very low purity. Judge Lord Burns deferred sentence on all four accused until April 11. They will be sentenced at the High Court at Livingston.