Russell Smith, 42, was sentenced at the High Court at Glasgow in January this year after pleading guilty to a charge of being involved in Serious Organised Crime.
Smith’s conviction came after he used his company's vehicles to help run a lucrative drug trafficking operation during the pandemic in 2020.
He communicated with associates on EncroChat, the encrypted messaging platform favoured by criminals, to set up drug deals worth thousands of pounds.
Smith, of Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, was arrested after police breached the encrypted network and found a number of discussions between Smith and criminal associates.
At the High Court in Edinburgh on 28 September, 2026, the court made a confiscation order in the sum of £312,432.80 and recorded that Russell’s benefit from general criminal conduct was £1,200,000.
The Crown can apply to the Court to have the confiscation order increased if Smith acquires assets in the future to pay back the full amount he made from his crimes.
The money recovered will reinvested into Scottish communities through the Cashback for Communities programme.