William Thomson, 47, was arrested after he was tracked by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.

William Thomson, 47, was arrested after he was tracked by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. He was one of the subjects of an investigation – codenamed Acrid – which probed organised crime in Lanarkshire and Glasgow.Thomson was arrested in October 2006 after SCDEA officers witnessed him transferring a holdall to the occupant of a Peugeot car in Uddingston. Strathclyde Police later stopped the vehicle on the M74 near Bothwell and the holdall was found to contain a large sum of cash totalling approximately £120,000.The cash was forensically examined and found to be heavily contaminated with heroin. The sum of money was believed to be profits generated from the sale of illegal drugs and Thomson was charged under proceeds of crime legislation.The cash recovered from the Peugeot car was later stolen by a production keeper at Hamilton Police Station. Robert Moffat, who was a member of police support staff, was subsequently found guilty of this theft and jailed for 22 months in November 2008.On Thursday, Thomson was given a prison sentence after being found guilty of offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act at Hamilton Sheriff Court.
Detective Chief Superintendent Allan Moffat, Head of Investigations Group at the SCDEA said: "As a result of our investigation a drug dealer is now behind bars where he belongs. The amount of cash that was seized provides an indication of the scale of illegal drug trafficking that he was responsible for."This individual is well-known to the local community for his links to serious organised crime and I am sure they will welcome justice being served."We use a variety of tactics and techniques to detect and disrupt the activities of serious organised crime groups, and today's result demonstrates that we are committed to using the full capability of the POCA legislation in the support of prosecutions against criminals."As a result of Operation Acrid, four men have now been jailed for a total of 18 years and six months for a variety of drugs offences.