A drugs courier caught with more than £16,000 worth of cannabis by a sniffer dog at Aberdeen Railway Station has been jailed.
Liam Bandoo was stopped by police after getting off a train from London on October 16.
Sniffer dogs and their handlers were taking part in an intelligence-led operation with police and the divisional alcohol violence reduction unit (DAVRU) at the train station.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard a sniffer dog stopped at Bandoo’s feet, and officers noticed he appeared “nervous”.
Bandoo, 33, admitted being concerned in the supply of drugs when he appeared in court on Hogmanay.
Fiscal depute Ruaridh McAllister said: “The dog gave a positive indication by sniffing his feet and police said he appeared nervous”.
Bandoo was searched and his rucksack found to cannabis of a potential street value of £16,660, and weighing one kilogram.
Defence agent Laura Gracie told the court he had started smoking cannabis at the age of nine, and batted heroin and crack cocaine addictions throughout his life.
Bandoo, who had frequently travelled down to visit family in Sheffield, had been repeatedly asked to smuggle drugs back up to the Granite City.
Ms Gracie said: “He refused a number of times.
“But in this instance, threats were made against him and his partner.”
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin acknowledged this but jailed him for 12 months.
She said: “Your role in this was one or courier, you were not said to have a significant role in the dealing operation.”
In November, Scotland’s Chief Constable Iain Livingstone revealed the north-east was the country’s capital for metropolitan gangs smuggling drugs.
There are 22 known county lines gangs operating nationwide, and that the north-east is the “most impacted” region in Scotland.
Dealers, often from major English cities like Liverpool, London and Manchester, will use fear and exploitation to expand their empire into more rural areas – often targeting vulnerable people to use their homes as bases.
When Badoo was caught in October, Detective Sergeant Scott McKay, Aberdeen CID, said: “We are committed to detecting and disrupting those intent on bringing drugs to the north-east and this seizure was part of our ongoing efforts to target routes used to transport drugs into the city.
“Criminal behaviour like this spreads harm and misery in our communities and it will not be tolerated.”
