Drug courier Taxi driver jailed after being caught with £35,000 worth of cannabis in his vehicle

A taxi driver who was caught with cannabis with a street value of £35,000 in his vehicle has been jailed for a year after pleading guilty on the basis his role was the courier. Glasgow police had been monitoring the moves of 48-year-old taxi driver john Thomson and swooped on his vehicle after they watched him go into a house in Glasgow’s Parkhead, empty handed, and then return back with a bag. Thomson pleaded guilty at the city’s sheriff court and was jailed for 12 months by Sheriff Norman Ritchie QC. The court heard how a police surveillance team watched Thomson enter a property at around 5:50pm on February 14 empty handed. Two minutes later he was seen leaving the property in possession of a large bag. The bag was placed into the boot of the vehicle before he drove away. Thomson was then followed by the police who eventually detained him at an Asda petrol station about 25 minutes later. He was taken to a nearby police office where the police searched his vehicle and found six vacuum bags of cannabis each weighing 4.5kgs. As reported by the Clydebank Post, if the drugs were sold wholesale, they would be worth around £15,000, but if split into “street deals”, they could reach up to £35,000. £985 in cash was also found on Mr Thomson which he couldn’t account for. Procurator fiscal depute Lynne Reilly said: “as he was within his taxi, enquiries were carried out in that regard.” Thomson’s last job was at around 12:30pm and said he wasn’t working at the time of his offence. Thomson was interviewed, where he made no comment before being cautioned and charged.

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