Organised crime pair imprisoned for cocaine-smuggling plot

Two members of an organised drugs gang aiming to smuggle almost £25,000 worth of cocaine to the Island have been jailed for a total of 13 and a half years.

40 year old Kirsty Louise Quilliam of Hillside Terrace and 25 year old Thomas James McBurnie of Koinney Avenue, both in Douglas, appeared before Deemster Cook at Douglas Courthouse.

Both had previously admitted being involved in producing cocaine, while Quilliam also pleaded guilty to supplying it.

The court heard on August 6, 2021, Quilliam had been sent a parcel from the UK containing a microwave oven - inside was 248.7 grams of the class A drug.

When McBurnie arrived and put the package into his van, officers swooped and arrested both.

Police traced calls from the pair to the gang's leader in prison, who was using a smuggled mobile phone, and his second-in-command as the parcel was sent and delivered.

McBurnie and Quilliam both claimed they didn't know there was cocaine inside, although they admitted they knew the package contained drugs.

Telling them he'd do all he could to deter people getting involved in drugs, Deemster Cook jailed Quilliam for a total of five years and eight months, while McBurnie was sent to prison for six years and 10 months, with an extra year for breaching his prison release licence.