Ian Sweeney once sold sharks for a living. He also was a notorious Scotland counterfeiter. Now, he is accused of being a drug dealer and faces charges after Scottish Police “smashed his drug factory.”
Lately, Sweeney’s supposedly run a legitimate business, sweeping homes of the famous and infamous for bugs and listening/recording devices.
The raid on the factory revealed about $124 880 (U.S. dollars) of cocaine, scales, blenders, a press and heat sealing machine. Sweeney, age 38, was exposed by the Sunday Mail nearly a decade ago as Scotland’s largest music and movie pirate.
Sweeney admitted to dealing coke at the High Court in Glasgow. According to a police spokesperson, “No one was found within the f lat and it was obviously not being occupied for domestic residential purposes but was being used for the preparation of cocaine for distribution.”
Police investigation revealed two kilos of coke in a wardrobe plus 25 k ilos of benzocaine – usually used in throat lozenges but also the UK’s most common cocaine “bulking agent”.
“The accused accepts that he established the illegal operation at his f lat and that he was actively involved during the period of the charge in the bulking out of cocaine with benzocaine.”
The court last week heard that Sweeney had several bank accounts showing large cash deposits, and used cash to pay credit card bills for luxurious trips to the United States, Japan, and Mexico.
Five years ago he was hit with a more than $780K in after being found guilty of pirating DVDs, but police won’t say how much of ill-gotten booty was recovered.
Sweeney is now bankrupt and jailed waiting for sentencing in August.
