Douglas Fleming walked free after a jury found the case not proven.

Douglas Fleming, 43, who was accused of trafficking millions of pounds worth of coke from Columbia via Antwerp in Belgium, walked free after a jury found the case not proven.Property and construction firm boss Fleming, who used to be an officer with Central Scotland Police, had been targeted in a two-year undercover operation.
During the attempted sting, Fleming was followed to Antigua where he met alleged smuggler Martin Toner, 34.Toner was murdered and dumped in a field in Langbank in July 2004.He had been due to appear in court accused of importing cocaine.
Throughout his trial, Fleming admitted knowing Toner but maintained their only common interest was property.An undercover Belgian cop - known only as Mike - alleged Fleming, calling himself Ben, called him to discuss importing Colombian coke.
A Colombian dealer gave evidence he saw 200 kilos of the drug being loaded into a container allegedly destined for "Ben" and others.Mike claimed Fleming arrived in Antwerp on October 2001 to arrange drug distribution and order more.But at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday, Fleming was cleared of smuggling coke along with Toner and others between February 2001 and September 2002.
A second charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine between February and May 2002 was also found not proven.Co-accused James Cameron, 49, of Lenzie Place, Spring burn, Glasgow, was found not guilty of the same offence.Cameron was stopped by police in a taxi in Glasgow and found to have £65,000 of cocaine in a plastic bag.
He said he was duped and believed the bag contained legal steroid dietary supplements.The two year long Operation Backslider was set up after detectives from the SCDEA received information that Scots were sourcing cocaine directly from Colombian drug cartelsUndercover cop, John Cuddihy, 42 told the court the initial probe targeted Fleming and Toner.The court was told the surveillance operation moved to the Caribbean in June 2001, when the pair were followed to Antigua.

Posted in: Operation Backslider