Two males whose firm sponsored a Scottish Premiership club have admitted working an enormous £12m cocaine trafficking operation.
David Stephen and Shaun Brown seemed to be respectable businessmen with the brand of their DX Home Improvements agency that includes on the sleeves of Motherwell FC strips.
However the pair, each 30, have been concerned within the buy and sale of an enormous 125kg of cocaine.
The duo have been lastly busted when police swooped days earlier than Christmas final yr.
Stephen had been in his £200,000 Lamborghini with Brown after the previous had arrived in Scotland from Dubai.
The two males each admitted on the High Court in Glasgow to a cost of directing others to commit a critical offence.
The males, each of Hamilton, Lanarkshire, will likely be sentenced at a later date.
The cocaine dealing initially spanned between March and June 2020.
The pair communicated with associates on the EncroChat cellphone community utilized by criminals earlier than it was busted by the regulation authorities.
Stephen was often called ‘narrowninja’, Brown used the handles ‘simplebull’ and “castlenut’.
They exchanged almost 12,000 messages with others including 26 individuals for the “purchase, collection, delivery, adulteration, storage and sale” of big hauls of the category A drug.
Both additionally directed the pick-up of soiled cash from their unlawful commerce.
Prosecutor Alexandria Kirk said the pair have been concerned within the trafficking of as much as 5 kilogrammes of cocaine throughout this time.
They organised for it to be lower with one other substance to maximise earnings bringing a possible worth of £600,000.
Ms Kirk mentioned: “Both kept and shared detailed accounts monitoring the incomings and outgoings of the criminal enterprise carried out at their direction.
“Stephen purchased a banknote counter and counterfeit cash detector from Amazon on March 26, 2020.
“A picture of the machine was shared by Stephen to an unidentified individual.
“This was followed by an image of 24 piles of cash.”
Stephen additionally despatched photographs of blocks of cocaine to an affiliate.
The pair weren’t caught at the moment and remained managing administrators of their seemingly profitable dwelling enhancements enterprise primarily based in Lanarkshire.
As nicely because the partnership with Motherwell FC, the corporate additionally sponsored a household race night time at Hamilton Park – every unaware of the pair’s crime hyperlinks.
One of the duo featured on a podcast to talk about how nicely their firm was doing.
But, they remained concerned in high-level drug dealing.
The pair have been snared by police shortly after Stephen had travelled from the upmarket Til Al Ghaf resort in Dubai to Scotland on a firstclass Emirates flight on December 23, 2025.
He was in his Lamborghini Urus having stopped at a petroleum station in Cambuslang, Lanarkshire.
Brown was his passenger and each have been held on the time.
Officers initially seized six mobiles.
A complete of £1,077-worth of UAE dirhams have been in a blue Louis Vuitton bag as nicely £750 elsewhere within the automobile.
One black iPhone belonging to Stephen was discovered to have a string of encrypted messaging apps saved with proof of each males being in a “group chat” with associates.
Ms Kirk mentioned: “A total of 125kg of cocaine – at the direction of both – was purchased and sold between August 18 and December 23, 2025.
“The street value of 125kg of cocaine is estimated to be £11.25m if sold in one-gram deals at £90 per gram.”
The advocate depute defined additional incriminating element in texts discovered.
Ms Kirk mentioned: “Messages contain multiple images of kilogram blocks of cocaine with different stamps and videos showing them being unwrapped.
“Several clips show Stephen handling the blocks.”
One particular person – often called ‘Oscar’ – was to make greater than 30 one-kilo “deliveries” of the drug in Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Ayr. He was then paid “wages” for finishing up the roles.
Stephen despatched Brown a spreadsheet – usually itemizing six-figure sums – demonstrating what Ms Kirk said was a “sophisticated operation”.
The court docket heard Brown moaned at one stage to an affiliate that he was “collecting absolute peanuts” for the cocaine this particular person had been given to promote.
Boasting how a lot money they might rake in, Stephen said to Brown: “It would mean we will have 1,772,050 cash, 1,307,205 due out.
“Leaves 464k for us.”
Ms Kirk mentioned later messages revealed the duo have been “struggling to pay their suppliers”.
But, she additionally informed the court docket: “Both lived a lavish lifestyle which can be seen in TikTok and Instagram posts from both.
“They can be seen to enjoy luxury goods, expensive cars and first class flights.”
One picture confirmed Stephen with an costly Rolex watch on his wrist with Brown tagged in and the message: “My brother. Thank you” together with a “love heart” emoji.
Another had a beaming Stephen sitting in a brand new automobile with the remark: “Matching Lambos with my brother. Dreams come true. Grateful for this life”.
Extra police have been drafted into court docket for the 2 showing amid experiences of a suspected safety threat involving one in every of them.
Sentencing was adjourned for experiences.
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