A SCOT agreed to smuggle £1million of liquid cocaine into the country after his once-successful Spanish business empire crashed.

David Thompson was arrested after landing at Prestwick Airport in November last year. Detectives discovered drugs had been hidden inside oil and wine bottles in his case.

Thompson, 51, who had left Scotland 20 years ago and was living in Catalonia, was snared having previously led an affluent lifestyle with a string of firms, a large home and his children at private school. But his fortunes nosedived when a pub he ran was hit by a fire.

A judge heard he turned to Spanish criminals for financial help - before they ordered him to bring drugs to Scotland when he could not repay the cash.

Thompson is now behind bars after he was jailed for four years at the High Court in Glasgow.

Detectives acting on a tip-off swooped last November 5 after Thompson arrived on a flight from Reus in northern Spain.

In his case were what appeared to be two bottles of olive oil and two bottles of wine.

Prosecutor Shanti Maguire said: "The liquid in the bottles appeared to be more dense than expected and this was due to the suspected controlled drugs being concealed within the liquid."

One of the olive oil bottles was tested, with the liquid poured out and allowed to evaporate This eventually transformed into a white powder, which was cocaine. Similar tests were carried out on the other bottles and all tested positive for cocaine.

Judge Lord Boyd told Thompson, who pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine: "The trafficking of class A drugs is a vile and evil trade."