A drug dealer was found with a block of cocaine worth up to £15,000 when police raided his Cardiff home. Their attention was drawn to the property after intelligence was received there had been drug dealing from the house.
Rhys Deguara, 33, was still in bed when police arrived at his home in Ball Road, Llanrumney, at around 7.30am on March 9. A search of the property resulted in the discovery of 157g of cocaine, 14g of cannabis, and £4,174 in cash.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday heard Deguara was also found in possession of an Alcatel burner phone and two other devices. When the burner phone was examined it was found to contain messages related to drug dealing.
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Prosecutor Kathryn Lane said the block of cocaine was compressed and believed to have been cut from a larger kilo block. She said this was to be broken down and sold to users for "financial gain".
Deguara was arrested and gave a "no comment" interview. But the defendant later pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class A, possession of a controlled drug of Class B, and possession of criminal property. The court heard he had 21 previous convictions including possession of cocaine and cannabis.
In mitigation Tim Evans said his client lost his leg as a result of an accident in 2016, which had led him to becoming addicted to cocaine. As a result of his addiction Deguara racked up a drug debt and started selling cocaine in order to repay his debt and to fund his own habit. The defence barrister said the defendant had found it "difficult" in prison since his remand in custody as "prisons are not built for people with one leg".
Sentencing, Recorder Andrew Hammond said: "You had some awareness of the scale of the operation and stood to enjoy significant financial advantage as a result of it." He sentenced Deguara to a total of 33 months imprisonment of which the defendant will serve half in custody before he is released to serve the remainder on licence.
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