DRUGLORD Jamie ‘Iceman’ Stevenson’s many boltholes included a private island that is home to a scandal-hit king, we can reveal. The globetrotting criminal godfather — who this week admitted leading an £80million cocaine plot — funded a life of luxury that included sunning himself on Nurai Island. 5 Jamie 'The Iceman' Stevenson lived a life of luxury before the law caught up with him Credit: Police Scotland 5 The godfather lived it up on plush Nurai Island off the coast of Abu Dhabi 5 Stevenson plead guilty to masterminding a failed £80million cocaine plot 5 Stevenson and his associates tried to ship a tonne of coke from Ecuador to Glasgow Credit: NCA 5 James 'The Don' White also lived a jet set lifestyle before his conviction Credit: PA The tiny resort, off the coast of Abu Dhabi , is where Spain’s former monarch Juan Carlos I has stayed since leaving his home country amid corruption claims.
His rise and fall may strike a chord with Stevenson, 59, who is now languishing in an Edinburgh jail cell with his reign as Scotland’s coke kingpin in pieces. It’s a long way from the paradise isle which is a 15-minute speedboat ride from the capital of the United Arab Emirates and close to Dubai , a favourite spot for football stars, celebs, models and influencers. A source said: “It’s hard to imagine a more exotic location than Nurai Island but Stevenson is now having to settle for a grubby cell in Saughton nick.
Read more Scottish news CON THE RUN Manhunt for prisoner on run from Scots jail as public warned 'do not approach' MOB TARGET Crime lord's fugitive son fled to Hong Kong & Norway with 'price on his head' “The Iceman is no stranger to life behind bars. A previous conviction for money laundering earned him a 12-year sentence in 2007. "He made the most of his liberty when he went on the run four years ago after getting bail for his coke plot.
But with a long stretch in front of him, it’ll be many years before he feels the sun on his back again.” Sun-kissed Nurai boasts a five-star hotel and 11 large mansions — including one where Juan Carlos, 86, has lived since 2020 . He had abdicated the throne six years earlier, handing the crown to his son Felipe VI.
Most read in The Scottish Sun TRANSFERS LIVE Hoops buy Trusty & McCowan latest as Gers sign Kasanwirjo & bid for Bajrami COP HORROR Emergency crews lock down Scots street after police officer struck by vehicle CRYSTAL BALL Celtic v Rangers score predictions as SunSport writers look ahead to big game NER-LY THERE Rangers target 'passes medical' as he's poised to complete deadline day switch But a Netflix documentary released last year showed how his reputation was marred by allegations of affairs, corruption and abuse of power. And his fall from grace was compounded by having to share the exclusive island with crime boss Stevenson, who’d raked in a fortune from his deadly trade. Emergency crews lock down Scots street after police officer struck by vehicle Nurai’s guests can stay in a beachside villa feet away from the Arabian Gulf’s pristine waters or, like the ex-king, book a five-bedroom estate with seven bathrooms, oversized bathtubs, private sauna and beach, plus an infinity pool.
Stevenson lived it up in the lap of luxury as he called the shots on an underworld syndicate making millions from the misery of others. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, his partners in crime James and Barry Gillespie were living it up in Fortaleza, Brazil . The brothers, of Rutherglen, near Glasgow , fled to South America while being hunted by Interpol detectives investigating a global network involved in drug trafficking, money laundering and illegal weapons possession.
But they vanished five years ago in the beachside city, amid claims they’d both been murdered . At the time the Gillespies were also wanted in connection with the attempted murder of Robert Allan in 2015 — for which several of their underlings have been convicted. They include James ‘The Don’ White, 47, who was thrown into the centre of Stevenson’s trial when the hood blamed him and three other gangsters for running the £100million cocaine importation plot.
But the sensational ploy came to nothing at Glasgow’s High Court when the Iceman’s co-accused began pleading guilty to their involvement. The cracks in Stevenson’s defence started to show — and on Thursday the man dubbed Scotland’s Tony Soprano finally threw in the towel. He pleaded guilty to smuggling a tonne of drugs to the UK in banana shipments supposedly bound for Glasgow Fruit Market.
His glitzy life on the run ended in the same way as the mobsters he tried to point the finger at. We told how White, of Gartcosh, Lanarkshire , was a trusted heavy of the Gillespies for years. James, 51, and Barry, 47, paid for his plush wedding to estranged wife Kirstin and White later joined his bosses in Fortaleza.
And we told how he was arrested there in 2020 by Brazilian cops — but there was no sign of the Gillespies. Photos showed him being handcuffed in his luxury flat. Messages shared on EncroChat — the encrypted phones favoured by crime gangs — later revealed that White had “elevated himself” to the top of the mob one year after the brothers vanished in 2019.
‘The Don’ quickly made the most of his new-found status, enjoying a playboy lifestyle with glam Brazilian moll Paula Gomes , 32. She shared snaps of their champagne-guzzling romance on social media. We told how the dark-haired beauty wrote a love note to White after he was extradited back to Scotland to face justice.
She also posted a photo of the dad of two in a tuxedo with a flower pinned to his lapel, plus a pic of two champagne flutes and a bottle of Krug from a beachfront bar. But despite apparently being able to throw money around like confetti, investigators discovered White had “no legitimate income”. Like Stevenson and the missing Gillespies, his luxury lifestyle had been funded by “serious organised crime for a number of years” with no records of him earning cash from a legal job since 2004.
Read more on the Scottish Sun 'YOU LEGEND' 'Stuff the Oasis tour', says huge 00s singer as they announce Glasgow gig hush hush Katie Price quietly drops boob op fundraiser after begging fans Legal papers lodged by the Crown Office last November state White had made an estimated £126million . He was jailed for nine years and 10 months in June 2023 after he pled guilty to involvement in organised crime..
