Spotted smoked ham was in the van (8)
I believe the answer is:
speckled
'spotted' is the definition.
(speckling is a kind of spotting)
'smoked ham was in the van' is the wordplay.
'smoked ham' becomes 'speck' (I've seen this before).
'was in the van' becomes 'led' (to go 'in the van' is to go at the front).
'speck'+'led'='SPECKLED'
(Other definitions for speckled that I've seen before include "Spotted" , "such a mysterious band" , "The - Band (Sherlock Holmes story)" , "Like some hens" , "Dotty" .)