County lines man, 18, had crack as town ‘sees surge’
ATOWN has become a “thriving market” for Class A drugs after being targeted by English gangs, a court has heard.
Llanelli has seen a “surge” in socalled county lines drugs trading, a judge was told, with organised crime groups sending dealers – often young people who do not have criminal records in order to avoid suspicion – to the town.
The details emerged at the sentencing hearing of a teenager sent to Wales to sell crack cocaine by a criminal gang who was to be paid £300 wages for his work.
Cameron Davy was found in a flat in Llanelli with 29 wraps of the Class A drug hidden in his pants.
A judge told the 18-year-old a custodial sentence was inevitable for anyone dealing in such drugs, and said upon his release he had a choice to make – to become a “broken” addict or a “thug” in a gang, or to turn his back on that world and lead a “decent life”.
Swansea Crown Court heard that at lunchtime on January 10 police attended a block of flats at Clos Dewi Medi in Morfa, Llanelli, on unrelated matters.
Jim Davies, prosecuting, said once inside the communal area of the block they heard voices coming from the open door of one of the flats and were “invited in”. Inside the property they saw Davy lying on a sofa.
The court heard police knew the teenager was from the Birmingham area and believed he may be linked to a county lines drug-dealing operation trafficking drugs into the area from across the border.
After a struggle Davy was handcuffed and then told police about the stash in his pants.
Officers subsequently recovered a Cling Film package containing 29 individual £10 deals of crack.
Davy was taken to hospital for treatment to cuts to his face sustained during his arrest and to be checked by medics because police feared he may have further packages of drugs hidden inside his body.
He was later discharged and taken to Ammanford police station.
The prosecutor said when officers analysed the defendant’s mobile phone they found numerous texts relating to drug deals over the preceding weeks, as well as messages that showed he had regular contact with a criminal drugs gang known to police as the “Marco line”.
Mr Davies said an investigating police officer had described how Llanelli has a “thriving market for Class A drugs” and has seen a “surge” in county lines gangs from Birmingham and Liverpool extending their operations into the town.
Davy, of Duncombe Road, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply and to possessing criminal property.
The court heard he had no previous convictions.
Kate Williams, for Davy, said her client’s dealing had lasted for a “couple of weeks” and he had been due to be paid £300 for his trip to Llanelli.
She said the defendant was very much at the bottom of the chain of command of the gang and had declined to name those who had sent him to Carmarthenshire.
The barrister said when Davy’s mother had received the phone call to say her son was in custody she had no idea where Llanelli was, let alone why he was there.
Ms Williams added gangs tended to use people with no previous convictions to do their work because they were less likely to come to the attention of the police.
Recorder Simon Mills told Davy custody was inevitable for those who dealt in Class A drugs as he sentenced him to a total of two years and four months in youth detention.
Davy will serve half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.