The smirk he pulls for his mugshot says it all – this is a man who thought he was untouchable.
But that has proved far from true for Jamie ‘Iceman’ Stevenson, who is now serving a long prison sentence for overseeing a massive cocaine smuggling plot.
Once dubbed Scotland’s Tony Soprano, the 59-year-old made a multi-million-pound fortune from drug trafficking and came to dominate Glasgow’s underworld.
Inevitably, his rise was facilitated by a reputation for brutality, with the crime boss once accused of murdering the best man at his wedding.
In 2020, he even sent a thug to firebomb his own home after it was seized under proceeds of crime laws.
Stevenson’s downfall finally came last year. And as with so many kingpins like him, it was the result of police busting the encrypted messaging platform EncroChat.
This allowed officers to read the texts he sent to fellow members of his drug gangs.
These messages, which we can now read for ourselves, show the progression of a real-life multi-million-drug smuggling plot in a level of detail that – until recently – would have been unimaginable.
Jamie ‘Iceman’ Stevenson pictured in a police mugshot issued while he was on the run
Stevenson was sentenced to 20-years behind bars for masterminding a £100million plot to smuggle cocaine in banana boxes. Pictured: Officers seizing the cargo
The plot Stevenson oversaw involved a bid to import £100million worth of cocaine from Ecuador inside boxes of bananas.
The gang boss was also linked to a Kent pill factory that could churn out 250,000 tablets per hour of Etizolam, known as street Valium.
Despite initially denying 14 charges, he went on to admit them after the evidence against him proved overwhelming.
For the cocaine plot, Stevenson worked with several associates including David Bilsland, a 68-year-old Glasgow fruit merchant, and Lloyd Cross, 32.
The plan was fairly simple – to hide the cocaine in bananas addressed to Bilsland, with the hope that his apparent legitimacy as the owner of Glasgow Fruit Market Limited would help avoid detection.
EncroChat messages decoded by police show Stevenson using the nicknames ‘elusiveale’ and ‘bigtastey’.
Cross had the username ‘shaggygoat’, while Bilsland was known as ‘trendymutant’.
In one exchange Stevenson (elusiveale) can be seen discussing the ‘wages’ he hopes to receive from the cocaine haul.
Stevenson was caught in a surveillance sting targeting another criminal
The boxes of bananas were addressed to a fruit merchant in Glasgow to give them the illusion of legitimacy
Stevenson’s gang had tried to import almost a tonne of cocaine, valued at roughly £100million
Crates of bananas after they were seized by police
He claims he will receive a ’20 per cent cut’, adding: ‘We prob get 100/125. Min’.
The unknown EncroChat user he was speaking to was clearly impressed, replying: ‘That’s life changing work.’
But as the operation develops, the gang become concerned about the risk of customs checks on the banana boxes.
As Glasgow’s High Court heard, Bilsland tried to reassure Cross by writing: ‘I am on it. Keep you posted.
‘Like I said, first one wil always get looked at. So expect a delay.’
He later warned there were ‘lots of wee issues’ adding: ‘But, that’s what I am here for.’
Bilsland wrote: ‘I am very happy with the plan so far. Let me know it that is okay with you.’
Cross wrote: ‘All sounds absolutely perfect mate. You are doing some top work.’
Stevenson went on to be jailed for 20 years, although this was later reduced to 16 years and three months
Stevenson, known in underworld circles as ‘Iceman’, was also involved in the production and supply of street Valium
A pill press that could churn out thousands of tablets every hour
Around 28million Etizolam ‘street Valium’ pills were seized in a raid on the factory
Bilsland then signed off the conversation by writing: ‘Thanks. You too. We are all a team. Will give you update on Tuesday. Have a good weekend.’
Unfortunately for the gang, police had already been monitoring Bilsland over suspicions he could be involved in drug smuggling.
In February 2020, they followed the fruit seller to Alicante and set up surveillance outside his hotel, only to watch in astonishment as Stevenson turned up to meet him.
Until then, detectives had had no idea where the Iceman was after he fled the country following a raid on his Kent pill factory.
Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Ferry, head of organised crime at Police Scotland, described it as a ‘eureka moment’ in the operation.
Border Force officers at the Port of Dover would go on to seize 18 consignments of bananas addressed to Glasgow Fruit Market between May and September 2020.
On June 12, 2020, police arrested Stevenson as he met with associates outside the grand Sherbrooke Castle Hotel in Pollokshields, Glasgow.
He panicked when he saw plain clothes officers pour out of a car, assuming he was being targeted in a gangland hit.
Lloyd Cross, 32, also played a role in Stevenson’s cocaine smuggling plot
Stevenson was arrested for the first time at the Sherbrooke Castle Hotel in Pollokshields, Glasgow – and tried to run away thinking it was a gangland hit
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Stevenson ran 100 yards before he tripped and tumbled down a grass slope. But he was relieved when he realised he was being arrested and not shot.
He had left behind the EncroChat device that would yield the messages used to prosecute him.
Stevenson went on to be jailed for 20 years for his role in the cocaine plot and the pill factory, although this was later reduced to 16 years and three months.
Sentencing him, Judge Lord Ericht said he had ‘directed a complex operation for the importation and supply of cocaine’ and ‘played a leading role in manufacturing Etizolam’, with 13.5million pills seized by police.
Etizolam was responsible for 752 deaths in Scotland in 2019 – more than half of drug-related deaths that year – making it a major contributor to its drug death epidemic alongside Class A drugs, such as cocaine.
Unsurprisingly, police said the jailing of Stevenson and his gang had ‘undoubtedly saved lives’.
Despite now being behind bars, reports suggest the Glaswegian has ordered trusted lackeys to continue his operations on his behalf.
Stevenson was charged with the murder of Tony McGovern (pictured), the best man at his wedding, but the charges failed to stick
Leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Russell Findlay, a former journalist who penned a best-selling book on Stevenson, previously cautioned it won’t be the last people hear of him.
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.’
Stevenson was then jailed for nearly 13 years 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.
Many fear this could happen again following his latest spell in prison, with one underworld source quoted as saying: ‘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.
‘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.’
American actor James Gandolfini played Tony Soprano in the hit US gangster show, which ran from 1999 to 2007
Meanwhile, an National Crime Agency source described their fears that his removal could spark fights among rivals looking to replace him.
‘Removing someone as feared and as powerful as Stevenson is just as dangerous as leaving him out to play,’ they said.
‘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.’
But the source 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 cartels do not do business with just anyone. Stevenson cultivated those contacts over several years. This is multi-million pound businesses we’re talking about.’
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