‘I’m a kilo worker not a key worker’, dealer told police
ADRUG dealer tried to use the cover of being a coronavirus lockdown “key worker” to hide the fact he was on a supply run, a court has heard.
When pulled over by police Benjamin Evans, 26, dressed in highvisibility work clothing, told officers he was a roads worker returning home after a night shift. But when his hire car was searched he was found to be in possession of almost 500 grams of high purity cocaine.
After his arrest he joked: “I’m a kilo worker, not a key worker.”
Swansea Crown Court heard an analysis of Evans’ mobile phone, his movements, and his bank transactions revealed him to be a large-scale drug dealer, supplying not just cocaine but also Valium, ketamine, ecstasy, and cannabis, much of it to other suppliers further down the chain.
Craig Jones, prosecuting, said at around 10.30am on April 6 police were in an unmarked car on the A40 bypass near Brecon.
As traffic slowed at a roundabout a Ford Focus came to a stop behind the police car – officers recognised the driver and approached him. When asked to step out of the Focus the defendant said: “What’s the problem boys? I’ve just finished a night shift.” He maintained he was a road worker with Forest Traffic Management on the way home after a night shift. Mr Jones said enquiries revealed he had been furloughed by his employer some considerable time before, and was “attempting to use key worker status as a cover for his criminal activity during the course of the coronavirus pandemic”.
A package recovered from the pocket of a high-vis jacket in the car contained 495 grams of cocaine worth an estimated £55,000.
Police found in the six months before his arrest he had used five hire cars and his own Range Rover Evoque to make a dozen drug supply runs from his home to places including the Birmingham area.
Mr Jones said it was clear from substantial payments made into Evans’ bank account prior to a number of the trips the operation was well-planned, and buyers had been arranged for the drugs he was bringing back to Wales.
Financial investigators found between 2013 and 2020 £214,762 was paid into the defendant’s bank – over that period his legitimate salary only amounted to £60,724 meaning £154,044 in “unexplained credits” had gone into his account.
Evans, of Holly Street, Pontardawe, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply, and to supplying cocaine, ketamine, Valium, and cannabis when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. The court heard he had a previous conviction for supplying a Class B drug from 2013 for which he was given a suspended prison sentence.
James Hartson, for Evans, said his client had been “remarkably co-operative” with the prosecution. He said Evans, who had a nine-month-old daughter and seven-year-old step-daughter, was “deeply ashamed” of his actions, and the position he had put his family in, and since being held on remand in Cardiff prison had earned “enhanced prisoner status” by his good behaviour and was hopeful of being moved to a lowercategory establishment.
Judge Huw Rees told Evans he had claimed to be a key worker but had been involved in the “selfish pursuit of making substantial amounts of money trafficking five kinds of drugs” without a thought to the “degradation and misery” caused to users.
Giving the defendant a one-third discount for his guilty pleas he sentenced him to a total of eight years’ prison. He will serve up to a half in custody before being released to serve the remainder on licence in the community.