Man was carrying cannabis in his suitcase

A man who tried to smuggle Â£34,000 worth of drugs into Scotland by carrying them in his suitcase on a cross-border train which passed through Lancaster, has been jailed for 20 months.

Hoang Ho, aged 58, of no fixed abode, was caught after train staff alerted British Transport Police that they could smell cannabis as they walked through the carriage Ho was sitting in.

Ho pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Friday February 17 to one count of being concerned in the supply of a controlled drug, namely cannabis.

On November 16 2016, Ho travelled cross-border on a Virgin train service between Preston and Glasgow Central with a suitcase and a holdall containing a substantial quantity of herbal cannabis.

After train staff smelt the cannabis and alerted police, Ho was apprehended at Glasgow Central station and the drugs were seized.

Investigating officer, Det Con Laura McClelland, said: “I am pleased that these drugs didn’t make it onto the streets of Glasgow and beyond. I hope that it sends a clear message that the transporting of controlled drugs on the railway will not go unnoticed .”