iStockTwo men have been jailed after more than £1.5m class A drugs were seized after major trafficking bust.
Shaun Donnelly, 47, was jailed for nine years and Andrew Moore, 38, for 30 months at the High Court in Glasgow.
Donnelly had been the main target for the Operation Melisma investigation for his involvement in drug trafficking in Ayrshire.
The pair were held after raids at three different properties.
Donnelly and self-employed florist Moore were discovered in one of them.
Prosecutor Scott McKenzie told how the first search occurred in Prestwick on September 3, 2021.
A man called Paul Elvin was there and claimed he was “holding” drugs for someone but refused to say who.
A total of £5,600 of cocaine was found there. Elvin was later jailed for 12 months for his involvement.
On December 9, 2021, officers raided the home of Josephine McKenzie in Ardrossan.
Mr McKenzie said: “She openly admitted that her family members within had nothing to do with what was recovered.
“She told the officers where to find the drugs in the property.”
McKenzie later stated “a family friend named Shaun” had paid her £200 for hiding the narcotics at her home.
A total of £863,750 of heroin and £563,500 of cocaine was discovered along with a substance used to bulk out drugs to maximise profits.
McKenzie – who had a gambling debt at the time – was jailed for four years at the High Court in 2023.
Police finally searched a property in Saltcoats where Moore lived in February 2022.
Moore was in the living room, and Donnelly was also there along with another man.
Donnelly confessed: “You know there is stuff here. You seen it in the kitchen. Everything is in the kitchen.”
Around £59,000 of cocaine was seized this time.
The court heard police went on to find a series of messages that linked Donnelly to passing orders to others relating drug trafficking.
Donnelly and Moore were also in discussion about payments.
Both men had been due to stand trial.
Donnelly instead pleaded guilty to a charge of directing others in serious organised crime between August 2021 and February 2022.
Moore admitted to being concerned in the supply of cocaine in connection with drugs found at his home.
Judge Douglas Brown said Donnelly would have been jailed for ten years, but for his guilty plea. Moore’s term was cut from three years.
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