Drug dealer caught with £2.5m of cocaine in car boot after police chase in Dundee

A drug dealer who was caught with £2.5m worth of cocaine in his car boot following a high-speed police chase in Dundee has been jailed for five years.

Dylan Nicol drove at speeds up to 120mph to evade arrest during a pursuit along the A90 and Kingsway West in Dundee in February this year.

The 24-year-old, of Dundee, was sentenced at the High Court in Inverness on Friday after he pled guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and a charge of dangerous driving.

Police trailed Nicol’s car as it headed east on the A90 from Perth to Dundee at 70mph over suspicions the vehicle contained a haul of controlled drugs.

At the same time, a stinger was deployed just before the Swallow roundabout in Dundee to try and stop him. Meanwhile, near Longforgan, officers in three marked vehicles surrounded Nicol’s car and activated their blue lights, signalling for him to stop.

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

Nicol carried on at 80mph and drove through a red light before officers were able to surround him when the car came to a halt and arrested him as he attempted to flee.

After he was detained, specialist drugs officers found 13 packages of cocaine in the boot of his Volkswagen Golf, which they later estimated had a maximum potential value of £2,447,900.

The drugs also had an average purity of 79%.

Nicol will now face confiscation action under Proceeds of Crime legislation to recover monies illegally obtained.

Moira Orr, who leads on major crime for the Crown 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.”