Elgin prisoner who masterminded covert drugs operation from inside own cell handed prison sentence at High Court in Livingston
A prisoner from Elgin who masterminded a covert operation to supply and sell Class A drugs from inside his cell has been handed a jail sentence.
Police officers examined mobile phones recovered from drug couriers and found numbers linking the handsets to several belonging illegally to Christopher Smith.
Analysis of the dialogue from these phones proved that he was directing the owners to traffic cocaine and heroin on his behalf from behind bars at HMP Edinburgh.
Smith, 34, was sentenced at the High Court in Livingston after pleading guilty to directing and organising the supply of controlled drugs.
He was also made the subject of a Serious Crime Prevention Order, which will last for three years and is designed to prevent him returning to crime when he is released from jail.
Moira Orr, who leads on major crime at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said: “Christopher Smith was intent on profiting from criminality even from his prison cell by flooding communities with drugs and carrying out deals as part of an organised crime network.
“This was an illegal enterprise, run from his prison cell, and it is clear his role was pivotal.
“As prosecutors, will always take action against those attempting to break prison rules.
“The imposition of a serious crime prevention order also sends a message to drug dealers that we will not stop at prosecution and will work to restrict their ability, even after they have been released from jail, to return to criminal activity.”
The court heard that prison officers carried out a search of Smith’s cell in November 2019 and uncovered several mobile phones.
A forensic examination of those phones then connected them to several drug-related incidents in Skye, Moray and Inverness between March 2018 and November 2019.
The content of the dialogue between these devices showed that Smith was instructing others to sell and supply Class A drugs as well as directing the collection of debt money.
In one message, discussions centred on the delivery of cocaine worth £8,250 and the enforcement of a £12,000 debt.
Another message included details of cocaine with a value of between £40,180 and £57,400 and heroin estimated to be worth £10,000 and a tick-list with a value of £38,130.
The court was also told that one exchange with an associate included precise instructions on how to make crack cocaine and even provided notes as to which customers should receive what strength of drug.
Smith also pled guilty to a charge of failing to appear in court for an earlier hearing on September 9.
He has been handed a jail sentence totalling seven years and five months.