An Ayrshire crime gang boss and his two trusted lieutenants are behind bars after a major international drugs probe.

Alan Stewart, 43, along with Leslie Montgomery, 63, and Matthew Cullimore, 37, were snared after the investigation into a mob involved in the trafficking of large consignments of cocaine and cannabis across the county.

The trio were caught after French and Dutch authorities smashed the EncroChat phone network used by criminals, which the gang had been using to organise their illegal activities.

The texts revealed chat including about "multi-kilogram" hauls of cocaine, £516,000 being owed for drugs and a £100,000 cash payment.

Cullimore was clocked at one stage picking up almost £95,000 of dirty money at a local Burger King.

The three pleaded guilty on Wednesday, August 7 to a charge of being involved in serious organised crime between March 2020 and October 2022. They will be sentenced next month.

The High Court in GlasgowThe High Court in Glasgow (Image: Newsquest)

Prosecutor Neil McCulloch told the High Court in Glasgow how they were caught as part of the Operation Wildcard police probe.

Stewart was described as the "principal" of the gang. He used the handles "ExcitedEmu", Montgomery "NeatFerret" and Cullimore "ButchPenguin" to communicate with associates via thousands of encrypted messages.

Mr McCulloch said: "He was connected with other organised crime group members and could source significant quantities of drugs at a time."

The court heard the EncroChat messages were consistent with all three "being involved in the purchase, distribution and supply" of large consignments of narcotics.

In April 2022, Cullimore was clocked by watching police involved in a £200,000 cocaine drop-off in Kilmarnock.

Two months later, he handed over £26,000 of herbal cannabis in an Amazon cardboard box to a man at a house in the town.

In July 2022, Cullimore initially met with Stewart in a coffee shop before going to a Burger King in Kilmarnock. He met an associate there who gave him a "weighted" red and white supermarket 'bag for life'.

Cullimore then made a stop-off at a house in Irvine. The bag was found there during a later raid and it contained £94,980 of dirty cash.

The following month, a further £44,000 of crime proceeds linked to the gang was seized.

Mr McCulloch told how a probe was carried out into the "financial affairs" of self-employed scaffolder Stewart.

He said "significant sums of money" were deposited into bank accounts connected to him, adding: "These far exceeded Stewart's declared income and that of immediate family.

"It funded a level of personal expenditure beyond that which could have been sustained by his legitimate, declared income."

Montgomery claimed any of the dirty money linked to him instead came from an inheritance and gambling.

Lawyers for Stewart and Cullimore, both of Crosshouse, and Montgomery, of Kilmarnock, had asked for them to remain on bail pending sentencing.

But, judge Lord Clark remanded them in custody and adjourned the case until September 6 at the High Court in Edinburgh.