Dealer sold £118k crack in 5 months
AN ORGANISED crime drugs operation saw more than one kilo of crack cocaine worth £118,000 sold to almost 3,000 customers over several months.
The operation was run by Ellis Seivwright, 21, who used his links with wholesale sellers to purchase vast amounts of Class A drugs which were sold by runners, including Jhaid Uddin, 22.
Sales were made via a Newportbased drugs telephone line, named after Seivwright’s nickname, Sanca, which would send out “text bombs” and advertisements to potential customers.
The defendants were the subject of a police investigation which monitored the drugs line, resulting in six phones being used in an attempt to avoid detection.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday heard a “conservative estimate” of the amount of crack cocaine sold by Seivwright through the drugs line between July 1 and December 14, 2020, was in the region of 1.1 kilos.
Prosecutor Ruth Smith said the police investigation began on September 17, when text messages were obtained from network provider EE which showed the phone, belonging to Seivwright, had been used to facilitate the sale of crack cocaine.
It was also established there had been contact with a phone belonging to Uddin more than 1,000 times.
An iPhone found by police at a raid in Livingstone Place was found to belong to Uddin and on November 30 he was found acting suspiciously in Conway Road. He was found with a bag of cannabis, between £300 and £400 and two mobile phones, one of which appeared to be a burner phone.
Both of the defendants were arrested on February 17. Police attended Seivwright’s home in Glebe Street where they recovered three phones, cannabis, snap bags with white residue, and high-value clothing.
Uddin’s address in Oakley Street was also raided, where another mobile phone was recovered. Notes were found on the phone which showed records of sales which were reported back to Seivwright.
Ms Smith said: “The line was active for 140 days and the average number of customers on those days were 21. If the lowest weight of 0.4g is considered, within that period with that number of customers, a conservative estimate of the amount sold was concluded to be 1.1 kilos of crack cocaine.”
Both defendants later pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, with Seivwright also pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
In mitigation, Rosamund Rutter, for Seivwright, said her client was still of a young age and asked the court to take into account his guilty pleas at the earliest opportunity.
Claire Pickthall, for Uddin, said the defendant had a previous good character and had become involved in the operation after losing his employment in a restaurant due to the coronavirus pandemic, a decision he now “bitterly regrets”.
Sentencing, Judge Daniel Williams said: “The drugs supply was over a period of seven months with the drugs line reaching a score of customers and facilitating the supply of £10 deals or an eighth of an ounce. Over a kilo of cocaine was supplied with a value in excess of £100,000.”
Seivwright was sentenced to five years and seven months’ imprisonment and Uddin was sentenced to two years and six months’ imprisonment.