Woman jailed for 40-months after pleading guilty to drug trafficking

A 40-year-old woman has been jailed for three years four months in prison at the High Court in Edinburgh today for being  concerned in the supply of controlled substances.

A multi-agency investigation by officers from the Organised Crime Partnership, a specialist team of Police Scotland and NCA officers intercepted a package in September 2019 containing MDMA, sent by Xiao Ya Chen on its way to Argentina.

Following further enquiries it was established that she had also received packages containing MDMA and cannabis from Belgium in November of last year.

Chen was arrested on Tuesday, 26 November, 2019 and a search of her home address in Edinburgh found further quantities of herbal cannabis along with £5000.

The potential street value of controlled substances seized during the investigation totalled £277,100.

Detective Inspector Tom Gillan of the Organised Crime Partnership (Scotland) said: “This is a positive result for all the partners Border Force, Organised Crime Partner and Police Scotland divisional policing who worked together to achieve this result.

“Bringing offenders to court, recovering illegal substances and disrupting the supply chain and those intent on taking illegal substances into Scotland and our communities is of the highest priority for Police Scotland and today’s sentence is welcomed.”

NCA Operations Manager, John McGowan, said: “Drug trafficking is a major source of revenue for organised crime groups, many of whom are involved in multiple crime types. There is exploitation and violence involved at almost every level, from source countries to the streets of Scotland where these substances are sold. This is why we are determined to do all we can with our partners such as Police Scotland and Border Force to disrupt those involved in the importation and supply of controlled drugs.”