James Stevenson, 59, also known as “The Iceman,” has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for orchestrating a plot to smuggle £76 million worth of cocaine into the UK from Ecuador hidden in banana shipments. Stevenson pleaded guilty mid-trial at the High Court in Glasgow to charges of directing serious criminal offenses related to cocaine importation and involvement in organized crime linked to the production and supply of etizolam, a substance often referred to as street valium.
The sentencing took place on Wednesday, alongside four other men who also admitted guilt during the trial. Among them, 67-year-old fruit market trader David Bilsland pleaded guilty to agreeing to import cocaine, while Paul Bowes, 53, admitted to organized crime associated with etizolam production and distribution across several locations, including the Nurai Island Resort in Abu Dhabi, London, and Rochester, Kent.
Stevenson’s stepson, Gerard Carbin, 44, and co-accused Ryan McPhee, 34, were also implicated in the etizolam supply chain. The extensive drug smuggling operation was dismantled after French law enforcement infiltrated the encrypted EncroChat network in April 2020.
The court revealed that Stevenson and Bilsland had met in a hotel in Alicante, Spain, on February 14, 2020, to discuss their plans. Messages indicated that Stevenson and vehicle recovery firm owner Lloyd Cross, 32, coordinated their efforts in a park, while Bilsland arranged the banana shipments and collaborated with Cross to finance the drug importation.
During a raid in Rochester in June 2020, authorities uncovered equipment capable of producing 258,000 etizolam pills per hour. Stevenson had previously been arrested but fled to the Netherlands after being released. He was ultimately captured in 2022 and extradited back to the UK. Notably, both Stevenson and Carbin had been jailed for organized crime in 2007, and Stevenson was listed as one of the UK’s most wanted men by the National Crime Agency in 2022.
