Police officers discovered the controlled drugs after carrying out a search of Chace Cappellie’s vehicle at the Stena Line port at Cairnryan. They uncovered a quantity of cannabis weighing 108kilograms hidden inside a number of vacuum-sealed plastic bags.

Cappellie, 33, of Halesowen in the West Midlands, was sentenced at the High Court in Kilmarnock after he admitted to being concerned in the supply of a controlled drug.

Prosecutors told the court that Cappellie was initially stopped by two port security officers who found a single suitcase containing drugs following a routine search of his car.

Police officers then carried out a subsequent search and discovered five more suitcases containing 92 vacuum-sealed plastic bags which gave off a strong smell of cannabis.

A further 110 bags were then found hidden inside the other bags.

If sub-divided into smaller bags, the total value of the seized drugs was estimated to have a street value of up to £1,085,160.

Moira Orr, who leads on major crime for the Crown Office, said: “Chace Cappellie has now been held accountable thanks to an extensive Border Force operation, working with COPFS, to disrupt a network of drug supply. These drugs would have inflicted serious harm on communities, but with each case of this kind we are reducing that risk.”