Pair caught with drugs worth up to £111k in car

DRUG dealers were caught with cocaine worth up to £111,000 in their car boot when they were stopped by police on a drugs run from Liverpool to South Wales.

Jason Smith, 26, and Nicholas Davies, 26, were stopped on the A40 in Abergavenny on September 8 after police received a tip-off.

The defendants had travelled from Ystradgynlais in the Swansea Valley to Merseyside to collect cocaine which was destined for the drugs market in South West Wales but their plan was thwarted on the return journey.

After the Audi car, which belonged to Smith, was seized, police discovered three blocks of compressed white powder which had the words “SNOWBMX” written on them.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday heard that each block weighed 1kg and the powder was found to contain cocaine with a purity of 74%. The estimated street value of the drugs was between £55,000 and £111,000.

Prosecutor Nuhu Gobir said the police also seized a bag containing brown powder, an iphone from Davies and £530 in cash. They also seized an iphone from Smith’s home.

On the phone seized from Davies, there were messages relating to drug dealing and showed him making an arrangements with a number saved under the name Scouse Neuer, with the defendant saying he “had drug suppliers with no drugs to supply”.

The suggestion was made for Davies to travel to Liverpool with another and he would stay at a hotel in Widnes. Messages were also found relating to Smith.

The defendants, both of Brecon Road, Ystradgynlais, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

In mitigation, Davies’s barrister Nick Gedge said his client had been a heavy cocaine user and had got into debt with upstream suppliers which led him to dealing drugs himself in an attempt to address the debt.

He also said bricklayer Davies had been subjected to threats and had pressure applied on him to pay off the debt.

Peter Donnison, representing Smith, said his client had been in employment since the age of 19 as a lorry driver but had similarly fallen into debt.

He said the father-of-two now “regretted” getting involved in the drugs trade.

Sentencing, Recorder Dyfed Thomas said: “(Class A drugs) cause misery to families, ill health and sometimes death and those that peddle them can expect long sentences from the court. Both of you involved yourselves in that enterprise.”

Smith and Davies were both sentenced to eight years and nine months’ imprisonment each.