Craig Convery and Gordon Brown, of Paisley, were closely linked with three fellow gangsters who plotted to kill Johnny "Mad Dog Adair."

The pair were snared under a police operation called Operation Apparent which uncovered drugs worth over £1m at a house in Erskine and at the Pit Stop Garage in Johnstone.

This operation ran at the time time as Operation Hairsplitter which caught co-accused Antoin Duffy, Martin Hughes and Paul Sands.

Those three were convicted of conspiracy to murder Mr Adair and Sam McCrory - once high profile figures in the Loyalist organisation the UDA, and its military wing the Ulster Freedom Fighters.

Convery, who owns Underwood Tyres and lives at Amochrie Farm in Paisley, and delivery company manager Brown, of 94 Glencoats Drive, Ferguslie. were found guilty of serious organised crime.

Although all five were on trial together there was no link between the charges Duffy, Sands and Hughes faced and those face by Convery and Brown.

They were associates of Paul Donnell, who was caught with £61,000 of drugs and an arsenal of weapons and live ammunition has been jailed for nine years and four months.

Donnell was found with cocaine and heroin, five handguns, a rifle and bullets in his Erskine home.

They were also associates of garage manager Greig Sneddon who had more than £1m of cocaine, heroin and mixing agents stored at his garage.

Sneddon, 33, was arrested after police raided the Pit Stop garage in Johnstone on 13 September, 2013.

The drugs were found inside Sneddon's BMW car. Drug-related items were also found inside his home in the town. Sneddon was jailed for four years and four months.

Neither Convery nor Brown gave evidence during their trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

But Donnell, 44, who described himself as a kitchen and bathroom fitter, told the court that he was a friend of Brown and was aiming to buy a share of his tyre company off Convery.

Donnell claimed to be in debt to drug dealers but said he had £5,000 to buy a share in Convery's tyre business.

He denied that he knew Convery and Brown because of their involvement in the drugs trade.

Donnell added: “I wasn't working for Craig Convery.” Donnell was asked if he had contact with Brown because he was working with him in the drugs trade and replied: “No, he was a friend.” When asked if Sneddon was involved in drug dealing with him, he replied: “No.” In evidence 34-year-old Sneddon said they drugs were nothing to do with Brown or Convery or Donnell.

He said: “I was storing them for a customer that came into my work. As far as I know his name is James. That's all I know about him.” Sneddon told the court he agreed to store the huge quantity of drugs because he had financial problems.

However, the jury did not accept the evidence of Sneddon and Donnell and convicted Convery and Brown of involvement in serious organised crime.

They will be sentenced next month.