Who will be the new Godfather of Glasgow?

by · Mail Online

It's been hailed as one of the biggest success stories in Police Scotland history but the so-called 'demise' of the gangster dubbed Scotland's Tony Soprano, Jamie 'The Iceman' Stevenson, has been labelled 'premature' as underworld rivals scramble to fill the vacuum created by his imprisonment.

Stevenson was earlier this week sentenced to 20-years behind bars for masterminding a £100million plot to smuggle cocaine in banana boxes.

There are fears a battle will break out to control Glasgow's £250million drug market spawning a wave of attacks and murders in the city.

But as rival gangs celebrated the downfall of Stevenson alongside some of his gang members, the 59-year-old Glaswegian has ordered trusted lackeys to continue to follow his orders from inside.

One underworld source said: 'If anyone thinks Jamie Stevenson is going to do his time quietly and let anyone take over his empire they haven't been paying attention. He's still pulling the strings from inside. Everyone has been well warned it's business as usual.'

The sentencing of Jamie 'The Iceman' Stevenson (pictured) has been hailed as one of the biggest success stories in Police Scotland history
Stevenson was sentenced to 20-years behind bars for masterminding a £100million plot to smuggle cocaine in banana boxes (pictured, officers seizing the cargo)
Stevenson's gang had tried to import almost a tonne of  cocaine. Five other members of the drugs gang were jailed last week after also admitting their roles in the mob (pictured, Stevenson's cocaine shipment is uncovered)

'They said years ago he was finished but Jamie went on to be even bigger after he came out of jail and he'll do the same again. The organ grinder still has plenty of monkeys to do his dirty work. Prison doesn't change that.'

While police are basking in the glory of the takedown, some senior officers have expressed fears that warring gangsters could become more violent as they attempt to take over the top tier of the underworld.

The biggest question is who will make the first move and will it spark off a new gangland war in Glasgow?

One senior NCA source said: 'Removing someone as feared and as powerful as Stevenson is just as dangerous as leaving him out to play. His resources are vast, it would be naive to think that anyone who has been dealing with global cartels hasn't the resources to continue his empire from prison but there will also be ambitious OCG's (Organised Crime Groups) with the daring stupidity to try and muscle in.'

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The source added: 'All it needs is guile, guts and cash and the willingness to do anything to spark of a turf war. Some will see his 20-year-sentence as an open-door invitation to wedge their foot in but I think, at the moment, there's no-one really with the contacts or the money to do what Iceman has.'

But he added: 'His international network of contacts will stay. His tentacles reach all over the UK, South America and Spain to name a few countries. They won't be happy to entertain any young gun who thinks he can walk in and take over. South American drug cartel's do not do business with just anyone. Stevenson cultivated those contacts over several years. This is multi-million pound businesses we're talking about.

'We aren't so sure anyone else has the resources but of course it's a waiting game to see if the lack of a dominant 'Godfather' outside will escalate into violence in Scotland, particularly Glasgow.'

Leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Russell Findlay, a former journalist who penned a best-selling book on Stevenson, cautioned it won't be the last time Stevenson will be heard of.

He said: 'Much of Stevenson's criminal network will remain intact and it is inevitable that he will have hoarded a vast dirty fortune, so any claims of this being 'game over' seem premature.

'Stevenson grew rich from preying on vulnerable communities across Scotland. Organised criminals are disgusting predatory parasites and should never be portrayed as glamorous or exciting.'

How the authorities managed to track down drugs king pin Stevenson in Holland in 2022
Stevenson was charged with the murder of Tony McGovern (pictured), the best man at his wedding, but the charges did not stick
One of Stevenson's co-accused, fruit market trader Ryan McPhee, 34, also admitted to being involved in serious organised crime

Stevenson, once a suspect in the murder of his own best man, was previously jailed for money laundering in 2007 with his operation likened to that of the hit US television series, The Sopranos.

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How police snared Scottish 'Tony Soprano' behind £200m cocaine banana smuggling plot

The NCA source said: 'Violence, threats and intimidation were the order of the day. Stevenson surrounded himself with trusted hardmen, including his stepson Gerard Carbin who was also sentenced to seven years for serious organised crime and drug offences.

Stevenson, Carbin and four other men were jailed on the same day for a total of 49 years.

Prosecutors said his huge trafficking operation spanned the UK, Spain, Ecuador and the luxury Nurai Island Resort in Abu Dhabi.

Stevenson was also central to a massive 'pill factory' which churned out millions of street valium tablets with a wholesale price of about £400,000

Etizolam was responsible for 752 deaths in Scotland in 2019 - more than half of drugs deaths in the country that year - making it a major contributor to its drug death epidemic.

Already one of Scotland's most notorious gangland figures, he was charged in 2001 with the murder of Tony McGovern, the best man at his wedding, but the case was later dropped.

Stevenson was then jailed for more than 12 years in 2007 after laundering more than £1million of dirty money.

He was freed in 2014, but soon returned to crime at a worldwide level.

The gangster and five of his associates are now behind bars after being snared as part of the joint Police Scotland and National Crime Agency (NCA) probe, Operation Pepperoni.

They were snared after officials smashed the encrypted EncroChat phone network revealing scores of messages relating to the smuggling plot.

Stevenson, known in underworld circles as 'The Iceman', was also involved in the production and supply of street valium
Around 28 million Etizolam 'street valium' tablets were seized in a raid on a pill factory in Kent 

Sentencing him, Judge Lord Ericht said Stevenson had 'directed a complex operation for the importation and supply of cocaine' and 'played a leading role in manufacturing street valium', with 13.5 million pills seized by police.

At the High Court in Glasgow in August, Stevenson pleaded guilty to the two charges mid-trial and returned for sentencing on Wednesday.

Judge Lord Ericht said: 'You directed a complex operation for the importation and supply of cocaine.'

Sentencing Stevenson to two decades behind bars, Lord Ericht added: 'I am satisfied that the total period of 20 years' imprisonment is fair and proportionate.'

Co-defendant Paul Bowes, 53, admitted his participation in organised crime by being involved in the production and supply of Class C drug etizolam at a string of premises, including in Abu Dhabi, London, and Rochester, Kent. Bowes was jailed for six years.

Fruit market trader David Bilsland, 68, Ryan McPhee, 34, and Lloyd Cross, 32, also admitted serious organised crime and drug offences.

Bilsland and Cross received six years, and McPhee was jailed for four years.