A drug dealer who made more than £10million has agreed to hand over just £1 to settle a proceeds of crime action – and has six months to pay it.
Court heard….
Prosecutors and defence lawyers agreed that 59-year-old Mark Quinn made a total of £10,158,678 during his involvement with the narcotics trade.
But at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, lawyers concluded that Quinn, of Liverpool, has only £1 in available assets.
Following a short hearing, Quinn, who is serving a seven-year prison term, was given six months to hand the sum over.
He was jailed in September 2022 following proceedings at the High Court in Glasgow.
Judge Lord Beckett heard how detectives had swooped on Alder Grange, a former care home in Liverpool which had been used to prepare and bulk out the drugs for trafficking in Scotland.
When he was caught
Quinn had been on the run for seven years before being tracked to Holland in October 2021.
He had pleaded guilty in July 2022 to being concerned in the supply of amphetamine between August 2013 and April 2014.
Quinn was snared after police launched an investigation codenamed Operation Kapuas in 2013 into the activities of an Anglo-Scottish organised crime group.
Details of his crime
Detectives initially recovered drugs with a street value of £3million following a raid on a flat in Paisley, Renfrewshire, in August of that year.
Prosecutor David McLean said Quinn’s fingerprints were on packaging.
In February 2014, police then kept tabs on a Ford Transit travelling from Scotland to Liverpool.
Quinn was later seen driving it in the grounds of the nursing home and loading items into the back.
Police went on to raid the home and found drugs with a value of more than £2million stored in heat-sealed bags.
Mr McLean said: ‘A number of items were recovered which indicated the premises were being used for the production and preparation of amphetamine from amphetamine oil.’
Defence lawyer Gail Gianni said: ‘He has no excuses, but if there had not been the financial climate at the time, he would not be in this court.’
Prosecutors can return to court if any of Quinn’s outstanding £10,158,677 of criminal assets are found.
