Drugs gang ran ‘industrial scale’ cocaine operation
A PORT Talbot man and his trusted lieutenant were running an “industrial-scale” cocaine-trafficking operation shipping large amounts of the Class A drug to communities across South Wales and beyond, a court has heard.
Scaffolder Daniel Baker ran the organised crime group, while Steven Hughes from Abercynon – known as “Sky Steve” – was the courier responsible for driving large quantities of cash and drugs around South Wales.
The two men have been jailed for a total of 20 years. A third member of the group, Mark Lapper, has been jailed for his part in the conspiracy, which involved distributing drugs in Oxfordshire on behalf of the gang.
Swansea Crown Court heard the gang’s operations were uncovered after police raided Baker’s house in the Sandfields area of Port Talbot on August 18, 2021, as part of Operation Formby.
Paul Hobson, prosecuting, said officers recovered a significant quantity of Class B drug ketamine, large amounts of cutting or mixing agents such as benzocaine and baking soda, three mobile phones, a stun gun disguised as a torch, and some £42,000 in cash along with a cash-counting machine.
Messages on one of the phones showed 30-year-old Baker had been involved, with others, in supplying cocaine between 2015 and 2018.
The prosecutor said some of the messages showed the scale of the operation, such as one from November 2017 in which Baker told an associate he had made £3,000 that weekend, and it was clear he had a number of people making deliveries and collecting money for him. Police concluded the defendant had supplied more than a kilo of cocaine during the period of the conspiracy.
Messages found on another of Baker’s phones showed a more recent conspiracy, the one involving Hughes and Lapper. Mr Hobson said while Baker was responsible for sourcing the cocaine, 46-yearold Hughes was a trusted courier who made deliveries across South Wales from Bridgend and Cardiff to the Valleys, as well as to places such as Bath and Weston-super-mare. He also collected and transported large amounts of money.
The court heard this conspiracy involved around 9kg of the Class A drug sourced and supplied over the summer of 2021 and was worth more than £1m. Part of that 9kg of coke – around half a kilo – went to 41-year-old Lapper in Oxfordshire for onward supply to others in the network.
The court heard that when Baker was initially interviewed he denied being involved in supplying drugs, and said the money found at his address came from his scaffolding business. In his interview Hughes accepted buying cocaine from Baker and running “errands” for him. Lapper accepted in his interview that he was a user of cocaine, and accepted giving cocaine to others.
Daniel Jeffrey Baker, of Silver Avenue, Sandfields, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine, possession of ketamine with intent to supply, and to possession of a prohibited weapon – the stun gun, which the court heard was not in working order – when he appeared for sentencing. He has no previous convictions but does have a caution for a non-dwelling burglary.
Steven Hughes, of Cross Street, Ynysboeth, Abercynon, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, and to possession of a small amount of cannabis on him when he was arrested, when he appeared alongside his codefendant. He has a number of previous convictions including one for battery as well as cautions for the simple possession of drugs.
Mark Timothy Lapper, of Anderson Place, East Hanney, Oxfordshire, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supplying cocaine. He has no previous convictions.
Christopher Rees, for Baker, said a number of testimonials submitted to the court showed a positive side to the defendant’s character, though he accepted such character references would always be tempered in cases involving criminality on the scale of the one before the court.
The barrister said that while held on remand in Swansea Prison awaiting sentencing, his client had seen for himself the damage drugs did to people, and now wants to take an Open University course in substance misuse counselling.
Andrew Taylor, for Hughes, said his client had worked as a Sky engineer for 20 years and, save for the matters before the court, was a hardworking member of the community.
He said at the time Hughes became involved in the conspiracy, not only did he have his “reasonably well-paid employment” but he had just launched a new business as a self-employed handyman, and it was this venture which had first brought him into contact with Baker when he did a legitimate job for him.
The barrister said his client, a recreational user of cocaine, had subsequently been approached by his new contact to act as a courier for him, and he had accepted – a decision “he would forever be sorry for”.
Christopher Rees, representing Lapper as well as Baker, invited the court to draw a distinction between Lapper’s role in the conspiracy and that of the two co-accused. He said Lapper had effectively been selfmedicating with cocaine for issues in his personal life and said the strain of his client being held on remand in custody had been felt by his partner and daughter.
Judge Geraint Walters said it was plain from all the evidence that Baker had been running a cocaine supply business on an “almost industrial scale”, using Hughes as his “trusted right-hand man”.
He said those who peddled Class A drugs brought misery to addicts and blighted communities, and he said the work of the officers who disrupted the conspiracy was to be commended.
The judge said those who got involved in trafficking Class A drugs knew the sentences which awaited them, adding: “It is a gamble. And when you lose, you lose big-time.”
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas, Baker was sentenced to 12 years in prison. With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas, Hughes was sentenced to eight years in prison. With a onequarter discount for his guilty plea, Lapper was sentenced to three years in prison.
The defendants will serve up to half their sentences in prison before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Speaking after the sentencing, Det Insp Russ Jenkins of South Wales Police’s intelligence and organised crime unit, said: “Organised crime groups such as these have continued to operate within our local communities and have been brazen in their activities and believed they are beyond the reach of law. Our investigators have worked tirelessly, and continue to utilise all opportunities available, to investigate these offences and successfully prosecute those involved.
“The continued success of these operations provides reassurance and confidence to the communities of South Wales.”