Gang member who fled to Spain jailed for plot to kill Scots drug boss

A crime gang member who fled to Spain has been jailed for his role in a plot to kill a Scots drugs boss

Anthony Connell was part of the plan to execute Ryan Carvil for apparently being “a grass”.

The assassination attempt failed when a potential hitman pulled out at the last minute.

Connell and associates were caught after incriminating messages on the encrypted EncroChat phone network linked them to the crime.

The 35-year-old – also part of a massive narcotics operation himself, including a haul of almost two million street Valium pills – had meanwhile fled the UK.

Connell – known as Tony – was traced in Spain before being extradited back to Scotland in April 2025 to face justice.

He was sentenced after pleading guilty to a charge of being involved in serious organised crime between April 2019 and May 2020.

Lord Scott jailed him for six years and nine months.

The judge stated that Connell was involved in a “significant organised crime operation.”

Lord Scott added: “A custodial sentence is appropriate to deter you and others from behaving in this way.”

A three-year serious crime prevention order was also put upon Connell.

Connell had been a trusted lieutenant for gang boss David Nisbet, 35, who wanted Carvil killed.

Prosecutors told how the mob “sought to turn the streets of Glasgow into a warzone” in a bid to get Carvil.

In one message, Nisbet stated: “Mate, I will get someone to f***ing put a tool to a head tonight…this rat has to get got. His luck is just too much now mate.”

Connell, of the city’s Govan, used the handles ‘Roughdingo’ and then ‘Las Penguin’ on EncroChat.

He discussed how the target was to be ambushed.

One message read: “Jump out, nut him quickly, tie weights to his ankles and roll him in at canal. That’s a missing person, not a murder.”

He added: “No car to look for nothing, you’ve got two weeks before they probably look in that water”.

The plan faltered as the hitman “did not like the getaway cars or arrangements on offer”.

Fugitive Connell went AWOL while facing charges.

He was arrested in Marbella, Spain, in 2023, having been traced during a large-scale manhunt.

It was last year before he was extradited back to Scotland.

Nisbet and fellow gang member Declan McCuish, 35, were convicted of conspiring to murder Carvil after a trial in February 2025. Nisbet was later jailed for 13 years, and McCuish for 11 years.

Connell’s KC Thomas Ross said: “He has broken off from the people he was involved with and has expressed regret regarding his involvement.

“He has not only done this verbally, but he is fully committed to changing his lifestyle.”

Carvil is awaiting sentencing after police smashed a massive food-delivery style drugs operation he was central in.

The 32-year-old – who flitted between Scotland and his £34,000-a-year home in Dubai – teamed up with shisha bar owner Saad Qayyum, 36, to flood Glasgow with narcotics.

The illegal trade was so awash with dirty money the pair were able to buy expensive supercars including a £314,000 McLaren 765T and £160,000 Audi R6.

Both pleaded guilty to an organised crime charge earlier this year.