A drugs gang was shipping large quantities of cocaine and cannabis from Liverpool to Pembrokeshire via Dorset, a court has heard.
The crime group was taken down by a major investigation by Dyfed-Powys Police which included covert surveillance of a suspect's property in Fishguard. So far six of the gang have been jailed for their parts in the conspiracy but one major figure remains at large.
Jim Davis, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that the operation was being run by Terrance Harrison, a Liverpudlian who was living in Dorset, and Pembrokeshire man Shaun Lucas. He said Harrison used his contacts on Merseyside to source cocaine and cannabis which were shipped to the west country then delivered to the Fishguard end of the conspiracy, Lucas, by drugs couriers. The barrister said Lucas would then distribute the drugs to local dealers and users and return the payments to Dorset. Lucas used his partner's house in Stop and Call, Goodwick, as a base for distributing the drugs.
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Two of the couriers used to transport the drugs to west Wales were Ozan Kilicaslan from Poole and Leigh Smith from Boscombe. The court heard Smith was paid £500 per trip to drive drugs to Wales.
The prosecutor said Harrison and Lucas were in "regular and close contact" with each other and with their couriers, and he said both took steps to avoid detection and "protect the integrity of the operation" including using multiple phones - Harrison used a total of 12 numbers during the course of the almost year-long conspiracy while Lucas used six - and rarely communicating by texts, favouring voice communications instead. The pair also met in person on a number of occasions in Pembrokeshire, Dorset, and Liverpool.
The court heard the police investigation which took down the gang, codenamed Operation Rookley by Dyfed-Powys Police, included covert surveillance by officers from the force's serious and organised crime team as well as mobile phone location data. The arrest phase of the operation took place in March, 2022, with a total of eight people detained in Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Dorset and Pembrokeshire. As part of the investigation police seized 244g of cocaine along with more than £40,000 in cash. Read about how an armed robbery at traffic lights in Swansea led to police taking down a £2m organised crime gang.
Terrance Harrison, aged 43, of Kings Road West, Swanage, Dorset; Shaun Lucas, aged 48, of Ty Cornel, Park Street, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire; and 44-year-old Leigh Smith, of Owls Road, Boscombe, Dorset, had all previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply cannabis when they appeared in the dock for sentencing.
Harrison has no previous convictions but has a caution for possession of cocaine. Lucas has multiple convictions for possession of drugs with intent to supply in Ireland as well as one for robbery, and has a conviction in the UK for possession of a knife. Smith has previous convictions for dishonesty offences.
Barrister Dyfed Thomas, for Harrison, said the defendant had worked as a labourer and for the local council after leaving school in Liverpool, and had subsequently moved to Dorset where he worked as a groundsman on an estate before starting his own business. He said his client was a dad of two young daughters, and had completed numerous education courses while on remand in prison.
Jon Tarrant, for Lucas, said the defendant had hoped the business he established - Pembrokeshire Part-Worn Tyres - would provide security for his family but that had now been put in jeopardy "through his own wrong doing".
With discounts for their pleas, the judge sentenced Harrison to eight years four months in prison, Lucas to nine years and eight months, and Smith to three years and nine months.
Ozan Kilicaslan, aged 30, of Ashley Road, Poole, Dorset, has previously been sentenced to 41 weeks in prison having pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to supply class B drugs. Charlotte Doe, aged 32, of Halves Cottages, Corfe Castle, Dorset, was sentenced to 13 months in prison, and 34-year-old Ryan Ager, of Pilch Bank Road, Liverpool, was sentenced to 19 months having both pleaded guilty to money laundering for the drug supply gang.
All the defendants will serve up to half their sentences in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Leone James, aged 33, of Precelly Crescent, Stop and Call, Goodwick, Fishguard, will be sentenced on December 16 having pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class B drugs. An eighth person, Steven John Kerr, aged 35, of Tracks Lane, Billinge, near Wigan, was found not guilty of money laundering at trial.
The court heard another "significant person" in the organised crime group remained at large, and was thought to have left the UK.
Speaking after the sentencing, Dyfed-Powys Police detective inspector Richard Lewis said: "This was a lengthy operation involving a number of departments across the force who investigated intelligence, coordinated a series of warrants, interviewed the defendants and carried out detailed enquiries into their activity.
"Today’s sentencing culminates more than a year of police work, which saw the disruption of a major supply chain into Pembrokeshire and the dismantling of an organised crime gang, which was no doubt linked to illegal activity on a wider scale."
Pembrokeshire commander superintendent Anthony Evans said targeting those who trafficked drugs into the county was priority for the force, and he said a Proceeds of Crime Act investigation was now underway aimed at confiscating criminal assets gained by the gang through its illegal activities.
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