A DRUGS kingpin linked to notorious crime boss Jamie ‘Bull’ Stevenson has been caged for flooding Scotland’s streets with £1million of cocaine.
Ruthless David ‘Mincey’ McKenzie was banged up for almost seven years after being busted by elite cops in a massive covert operation.
They staked out flats and bugged cars — listening in to edgy conversations as he talked business with underworld contacts.
And McKenzie, 41 — who was jailed at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday — even spoke about deals in code as he feared he was being monitored.
But one top detective said the reckless hood — whose trade could have been worth up to £5million — brought about his OWN downfall by conducting his business in swanky hotel lobbies.
DCI Paul Donaldson said after he was sent down: “We found that McKenzie was very close to actual business dealings despite the obvious risk. It was very
unusual.
“Given the prominence he holds within organised crime in Scotland, we welcome this sentence.
“It demonstrates to people like David McKenzie that we don’t care who they are — we will use every means available to haul them to justice.”
Cops in the former Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency knew for years that McKenzie, was a major player in the criminal underworld.
But the key lieutenant of Stevenson, who was jailed in 2007 for laundering £1million of drugs cash, popped up on their radar again in November 2010 as they mounted Operation Chilon, targeting a central Scotland crime gang.
Detectives knew the villains were buying high-quality cocaine from gangsters in Liverpool and Manchester and selling it heavily cut to users across Scotland.
They linked McKenzie — who insists on being called ‘Rambo’ — to a flat in Glasgow’s Dennistoun that was being used as a “cutting shop” to bulk out batches of 77 per cent pure coke with mixing agents such as benzocaine, often used in over-the-counter medicines.
The East End crime base was later raided and associate Benjamin Welsh, 49, was jailed. But police decided to carry on watching McKenzie.
DCI Donaldson said: “It was clear to us he was a prominent figure in that crime group.
“We already knew, as did most people, that he was a long-standing member of organised crime.
“We wanted to attack everything that this group was involved in — not only the drugs but also any businesses.”
Detectives made a breakthrough when they realised McKenzie was heavily involved in day-to-day drugs transactions.
They watched in disbelief as he met shady Liverpool gangsters in hotels such as the upmarket Radisson Blu in Glasgow city centre — evidence that helped them to build a rock solid case against him. DCI Donaldson has no idea why McKenzie was involved in his business at this level.
He said: “If you have a directing influence in a crime group, as he had, you don’t get involved in actually distributing the drugs.
“People in that position usually operate at arm’s length to make it harder for us to detect them.
“I can only assume some people prefer to be hands-on. For him, the temptation to be involved was too strong. It was most unusual.”
Police moved on McKenzie in June 2011 and raided his house in Baillieston, Glasgow.
He fled to Spain and was only arrested in February after being picked up off a flight from Malaga to Belfast.
His trial heard how bugs in McKenzie’s Mercedes and Mazda recorded him discussing drugs deals and profits with associates.
He used code words such as “scratch” — meaning a sample of coke for potential customers — in a bid to outwit cops if they were listening in. Prosecutor
Bill McVicar revealed: “He demonstrated a high level of awareness of police
activity and adopted anti-surveillance techniques.” Gordon Jackson, defending, described him as “a lieutenant of people who are very serious in the business”.
The court heard police seized 18 kilos of 77 per cent pure cocaine. The average purity on the street is 12 per cent.
McKenzie avoided a 10-year sentence as he admitted being involved in cocaine hauls with a street value of £920,000.
But DCI Donaldson said: “The amount of cocaine seized could have generated £5million on the streets.”
Jailing McKenzie for six years and eight months for his third drugs rap, judge Lord Matthews said: “Those who deal in controlled drugs can expect very
little mercy.”
Cocky McKenzie smiled and waved to the officers who caught him as he was led handcuffed from court.
The SCDEA is now part of Police Scotland’s Specialist Crime Division. And DCI Donaldson appealed to the public for help in nailing more major criminals.
He said: “They live a lifestyle some of us can only dream about.”
How Mincy was cooked
NOVEMBER 2010: Cops link McKenzie to “cutting room” in Dennistoun.
DECEMBER 2010: Seen meeting associate at Radisson Blu.
JANUARY 2011: McKenzie’s sidekick meets same man in Liverpool — he’s later stopped by cops on M74, who find 2kg coke.
APRIL 2011: Raid on McKenzie’s home finds Blackberry drug deal texts.
JUNE 2011: McKenzie flees to Spain.
FEBRUARY 2013: Arrested after arriving on flight to Belfast. He later pleads guilty to distribution of cocaine.
SEPTEMBER 2013: Jailed at High Court in Glasgow.
Code words
Detectives nailed McKenzie after they listened in to his conversations — and heard him using code to talk about drug deals.
Specialist officers managed to crack the secret language lingo.
It included phrases such as “paper” (money), “SP” (starting price for payments), “fishtail” (scales for weighing drugs) and “scratch” (coke sample).
Drug raps & murder quiz
Mincy served almost seven years from 1997 after being caught with cocaine and heroin worth £1million.
In 2006, he was stabbed in a Glasgow pub by George Redmond and was left fighting for his life.
Two years later cops quizzed him over Redmond’s murder outside the Waldorf bar in the city.
In 2009 Mincey was again jailed, for carrying cocaine and a knife.
He headbutted former pal Ian ‘Blink’ MacDonald at his brother John’s funeral in 2010.
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