Drug kingpin Paul Easdon, known as 'Glasgowceltic' on the EncroChat network, has been handed an additional three years in prison for his role in a £300,000 cocaine deal. Easdon, 38, of Strathaven, Lanarkshire, is already serving a six-year sentence for his part in a major drug trafficking operation.
Details of the Drug Bust
Easdon was caught during a police probe that led to him being kept under surveillance. The High Court in Glasgow heard how a Renault Clio was stopped in the city's Sandyhills on August 2, 2024. Easdon's associate Declan Price, 29, of Ruchazie, Glasgow, got out clutching two carrier bags.
Prosecutor Vish Kathuria told the hearing: "One of them was searched and found to contain two taped blocks of cocaine. The other bag had three taped blocks of the drug. Each weighed one kilogram." Easdon's DNA was found on two of the packages. Kathuria stated the haul had a total potential value of around £300,000.
Easdon and Price admitted to a charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine. Price was jailed for 40 months in June 2024.
EncroChat Kingpin's Criminal Network
Easdon was sentenced in October 2024 for his part in a huge drug trafficking operation. The flashy dealer had boasted how the cartel was making £4m-a-month from selling cocaine alone. Easdon was in the same criminal network as ex-Mr Scotland bodybuilder John Barry McDuff, who was jailed separately for seven years in 2024. The pair were caught after law enforcement smashed the EncroChat phone network used by scores of gangs. Easdon had used the nickname "glasgowceltic" to communicate with associates. He is also understood to be a rival to Jamie Stevenson, the "Iceman" who reportedly ordered firebomb attacks on a hair salon in Hamilton run by Easdon's wife.
Sentencing Remarks
Judge Lord Arthurson told Easdon at sentencing: "Plainly a further custodial sentence is inevitable. It was a single day offence which you pleaded guilty to. You are responsible, the Crown accept, for a restricted amount of the drugs recovered. You have an analogous conviction at High Court level for which you are serving a long-term sentence. In the circumstances I will sentence you to three years which will run consecutively."
Brian McConnachie KC, defending, earlier told the sentencing: "He has had the opportunity to reflect on his actions and has undertaken a very significant amount of education in the prison system."
