DX Home Improvement, a construction company run by two cocaine-dealing gangsters who called themselves 'the Lambros', has been shut down by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) following the jailing of its bosses. David Stephen, 30, and Shaun Brown, 31, were each sentenced to six years and eight months in May after masterminding a £12 million cocaine empire.
Company Wound Up by HMRC
Officials from HMRC pursued the pair over unpaid tax and petitioned Hamilton Sheriff Court to wind up DX Homes. Court documents lodged on behalf of the Commissioners for His Majesty's Revenue and Customs requested the company's closure. An official liquidator has now been appointed, and the business has ceased trading.
HMRC declined to comment on the case.
Motherwell FC Sponsorship Deal
DX Home Improvement had been the sleeve sponsor of Scottish Premiership side Motherwell FC, with the company's logo appearing on the club's official strips. The deal was signed in 2024, and Stephen and Brown posed for photographs with Fir Park stars Andy Halliday and Paul McGinn. However, Motherwell FC terminated the sponsorship after the duo were arrested in December last year.
Cocaine Empire and EncroChat Messages
Stephen and Brown ran their drug operation using encrypted EncroChat phones. Stephen used the username 'Narrowninja', while Brown was known as 'Simplebull' and 'Castlenut'. They exchanged nearly 12,000 messages, mostly linked to criminality, between March and June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. They coordinated the purchase, collection, delivery, adulteration, storage, and sale of cocaine, dealing with 26 unknown subjects.
The pair bought and sold a 125kg stash of cocaine in just four months. They were arrested after police tailed them to a petrol station in a £200,000 Lamborghini Urus. Both admitted using encrypted devices to direct others to commit serious offences, namely the collection and onward supply of cocaine, at addresses in Rutherglen, Hamilton, and Tilal Al Ghaf, Dubai.
Brazen Behavior and Downfall
Stephen and Brown flaunted their wealth, posing with Lamborghinis and other supercars. They also posed in front of a works van parked outside Hampden in Glasgow to appear as legitimate traders. Their criminal empire collapsed when police intercepted their activities.
