TWO men caught with a van full of Valium worth more than £370,000 have been jailed for a total of 14 years and four months.

Gary Corkindale, 39, of Ashgill Road, Milton, and Alexander Connelly, 34, of Collesie Drive, Craigend, admitted being concerned in the supply of Diazepam – also known as Valium – from December 2015 until February last year.

Corkindale also admitted being concerned in the supply of amphetamine and cannabis.

Yesterday Judge Tom Hughes QC jailed McCorkindale for eight years and Connelly for six years and four months. He told them: “Drugs are a catastrophic problem in society.”

Prosecutor Lyndsey MacDonald told the High Court in Glasgow that police received a tip-off on February 26 last year, that a van parked in Lomond Street, Possilpark, contained drugs.

The white Mercedes van had been hired by Connelly from Leslie Commercials on February 12, last year, and Corkindale was with him.

When police went to Lomond Street they found the hire van parked and unattended. They parked behind the van, so that it could not be driven away.

Connelly who drove past in a white VW Golf watched what the police were doing and then sped off.

Other police officers went to the hire firm to find out who had hired the van and while they were there Connelly phoned asking for the spare key for the van.

Corkindale arrived at the hire firm and asked for the spare key.

He was detained and his Peugeot was searched. In the boot was an Asda carrier bag containing 10 bags of amphetamine with a street value of £11,250.

Police opened the van using the spare key and found cardboard boxes and commercially-sealed packages containing Diazepam inside.

Ms MacDonald told the court that the total maximum street value of the Diazepam was £376,320.

In Connelly’s home police found a mobile phone and £1,025 in cash and in Corkindale’s house they discovered a tick list and a bag of amphetamine with a street value of £1,030.

The court heard that Corkindale has previous convictions including a High Court conviction in 2012 for being concerned in the supply of cocaine and cannabis resin.