SIX men who turned a Scottish nightclub into a notorious drugs den face prison after being found guilty of 19 drugs-related charges.
The drugs ring was uncovered when 150 police officers raided the Club Metro nightclub in Arbroath on March 23 this year.
Yesterday, the men, including three convicted drug dealers and the managing director of the club, were warned to expect prison sentences after a jury found them guilty of the offences.
Gary Quigley, 29, of Newton Avenue; Michael Patterson, 22, of Warslap Avenue; and Paul Campbell, 21, of Bloomfield Road, all Arbroath, admitted being concerned in the supply of ecstasy at the club.
Campbell also admitted a further charge of being concerned in the supply of LSD.
A fourth man, Arthur Swankie, 29, of Jamieson Street, Arbroath, was convicted of possessing class A drugs.
All four men were warned to expect prison sentences.
At Arbroath Sheriff Court, Sheriff Norrie Stein told the men: ``It has been repeatedly said that people who are concerned in the supply of Class A drugs should expect severe sentence.''
Sheriff Stein said to Swankie that, because he had a previous conviction and had served five years in prison for supplying drugs, he would obtain a social inquiry report but did not anticipate it making any difference.
Patterson and Campbell also have previous convictions under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
The managing director of the nightclub, Taz Asghar, 35, of Morven Avenue, Montrose, and his floor manager Johan Cairns, 39, of Queens Street, Montrose, were found guilty of a charge of knowingly permitting the smoking of cannabis in the venue. Cairns was also found guilty of a charge of assault.
The club was raided as the result of Operation Paris - a covert operation by Tayside Police that involved under-cover officers buying drugs inside the club on the two weekends before the raid.
A number of police witnesses told the court how the air in the club had been thick with cannabis smoke and they had seen drugs exchanging hands.
Undercover officers then bought drugs from the dealers using marked bank notes.
After the jury of six men and nine women delivered their verdicts, they were kept behind by Sheriff Stein due to concerns about glances exchanged with the public benches. They were released shortly afterwards.
Outside the court, reporters and photographers were threatened by people accompanying the accused men.
Sentence was deferred on all six men pending social enquiry reports.
Quigley, Campbell, Patterson, Cairns, and Asghar were released on bail, while Swankie was remanded in custody.
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