Members of £19million cocaine gang sent to jail

Twenty men and women have been convicted of a UK- wide conspiracy to supply £19million worth of cocaine.

Police across the country worked together to snare the gang, headed by DyfedPowys Police’s serious organised crime team – who described it as their “biggest, most complex and detailed drugs investigation”.

More than 2.7kg of highpurity cocaine was seized.

Operation Phobos smashed through three organised crime groups in Liverpool, Manchester and Wales, which were producing and supplying the drug to communities across England and as far north as Aberdeen. Police in Aberdeen made several arrests, after raiding a house in the city that was being used to supply the cocaine.

This week, Swansea Crown Court handed down sentences varying from 18 months to 14 years.

During the investigation, more than 3,000 pieces of evidence were pulled together.

The operation centred on the illegal drug activities of a group headed by Matthew Roberts, 32, of Llanelli, who operated in the Carmarthenshire and Swansea Valley area – supplying cocaine to two other groups in Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

He was jailed for 12 years.

Ian Edwards, the head of the Merseyside syndicate, was sentenced to 14 years for his part in trafficking the drugs.

The 30-year-old, from Liverpool, and his group also developed a production and supply network in Aberdeen.

Paul Lasley, 29, of Wigan, formed part of the Greater Manchester gang, and again co-ordinated the trafficking of the drugs and large amounts of mixing agents to Roberts in Wales.