Stevenson to appeal jail term for £100m banana box cocaine plot

The Court of Appeal in Edinburgh confirmed Stevenson was now contesting the jail-term imposed by judge Lord Ericht.

An appeal against the sentence has been lodged by his legal team but no court date has been set.

The drugs operation, which spanned the UK, Spain, Ecuador and Abu Dhabi, had been targeted by police in an inquiry which was named Operation Pepperoni.

Officers had been investigating reports that Bilsland, a Glasgow fruit merchant, had links with organised crime. He was then seen meeting Stevenson in a hotel in Spain.

At about the same time, officers had learned that Stevenson was involved in setting up a factory in Kent which was producing millions of Etizolam tablets.

The factory was raided in June 2020 and Stevenson was arrested in Glasgow.

He was taken to England by police before being released on bail.

Stevenson then fled the UK, spending almost two years on the run before being arrested while jogging in the Netherlands.

The NCA said Stevenson continued to direct the importation of cocaine into the UK from abroad.