A county line drug gang was rumbled despite one of it's taxi driving members having "great cover".
Peter Noble, of Cooper Avenue in Liverpool and Jake Kiernan, of Vicarage Lane in Rhuddlan, appeared in the dock alongside Laraisa Thomas, of Rhydwen Drive in Rhyl after pleading guilty to conspiring to supply Class B drugs namely cannabis. Prosecuting, Andrew Jones, told a judge at Mold Crown Court how a covert police operation identified the three defendants were part of a wider organised crime group who were bringing cannabis into North Wales from across the border in Merseyside.
He said that Kiernan, 30, was heading up the gang and had the responsibility for sourcing "multiple kilograms" of cannabis from an upstream supplier named Hadyn Pendleton in Liverpool. The court heard how "security conscious" Kiernan used "at least" 10 different mobile phone numbers over the course of the conspiracy to avoid the detection of the police, NorthWalesLive reports.
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Mr Jones said that Kiernan would send "couriers" he trusted over to Speke to collect the cannabis from Pendleton, of Dam Wood, for onward distribution. The court heard how 50-year-old Noble was described as a "trusted associate" of Pendleton and used his role as a local taxi driver in Liverpool to provide "great cover" for their drug dealing activities.
He was used to take Pendleton to and from North Wales. Thomas, 25, was used as a courier by Kiernan.
She was the registered keeper of a black Volkswagen Passat that belonged to her boyfriend Bexley Myers. The prosecutor said it was registered in her name "as a criminal tactic" to deflect the true ownership of the vehicle.
The court heard how this was a "large-scale operation" with a plot which ran for several months, between May 2020 and November 2020. Thomas was involved in three trips, the court heard, during which time she transported over 10 and a half kilos of the Class B drug, which an expert gave a street value of £105,000.
In October 2020, arrangements had been made by Kiernan for Thomas to travel up to Speke with her partner Myers one afternoon in a Ford Fiesta that was being tailed by the police to the home of Pendleton. "Packages" were picked up and placed in the boot of the car before the couple left the scene, said Mr Jones.
The couple stopped at a Morrisons store on the way home to "do some shopping", the court heard. When they returned, they put their groceries into the boot - alongside the drugs which were in a "large black bin bag".
The couple were later stopped by the police at Northop services along the A55 where, upon approaching, the officers got the "strong smell of cannabis" from them. During the search, Thomas claimed that she and her partner had been working as door staff at Sainsbury's.
Her story changed to the fact that just Myers had been working at the supermarket and she was collecting him from work. Mr Jones reminded the court that this was during a period when government-imposed Covid-19 regulations were in force about travelling.
Their arrest was authorised, the court heard, and searches took place at their home addresses and of the vehicle. Amongst their shopping, offices found three and a half kilos of herbal cannabis.
Scales with cannabis residue were found at Myers home address along with a number of dealers "tick lists". One list was found to have fingerprints linked to Kiernan and another had Thomas' fingerprints on it, the court heard.
Surveillance officers clocked Kiernan leaving his home address in early November and he was tracked down to some playing fields nearby. There, he was found to be with Pendleton and Noble and "looking into" the boot of a VW Passat.
Noble was later stopped on the A55 - with Pendleton - where officers found he was carrying £15,390 in the spare wheel compartment. All three were subsequently were arrested.
The prosecutor said it is believed the Liverpool-based drug supplier had come to collect cash which had been "lost" when Thomas and Myers were arrested. When questioned, Thomas claimed to have "no idea" how the drugs got into the boot of the car.
She told officers that she had noticed the black bag and "assumed it was just full of rubbish". Noble told the police that he knew Pendleton and that he had been paid £50 to drive him to North Wales on the day they were arrested in order to buy a Land Rover.
He said that the drugs supplier was carrying a quantity of cash to pay for the vehicle and had asked to put it in the boot. Mr Jones said that Kiernan answered no comment to all questions asked of him.
Mr Simon Kileen, defending Kiernan, said his client has been waiting for over a year to be sentenced, having pleaded guilty to the conspiracy at the lower courts and waiting for his co-accused to own up as well. He accepts that there is "no question" that the 30-year-old ran the operation in Wales and is prepared to face his punishment and "commit to changing his life" and make this his last stint behind bars.
Dafydd Roberts, defending, Noble, said that his client knows "all to well" where drugs dealers end up when caught. However, he asked that the judge reflects on the fact the 50-year-old was involved on "just one day" of a much larger conspiracy.
Thomas was unrepresented in court due to the ongoing industrial action being taken on by barristers across England and Wales. She was given the option to defer sentence but it was indicated by the judge earlier in the day that she would be spared prison.
Judge Nicas Parry jailed Kiernan for two years and eight months. He suspended the 21-month sentences of both Thomas and Noble by two years - but instructed Noble to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.
The court heard how Hayden Pendleton, Christopher Rutter and Bexley Myers all pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply Class B drugs - Cannabis. They will be sentenced at a later date due to complications with their representation at court.
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