Three members of a drug gang who shipped large quantities of cocaine from Southend to South Wales were sentenced on October 16.
Armani Brown, 26, Ahmed Hassan, 22, and Phillip Royal, 55, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday October 16 after pleading guilty to supplying the class A drug, cocaine.
Two of the defendants, Armani Brown and Ahmed Hassan, also admitted being concerned in the supply of a class A drug, crack cocaine.
Adam Griffiths, case officer, said: “This has been a lengthy investigation into an organized crime group who have used sophisticated methods to avoid the police.
“As part of our investigation, we found that this OCG was responsible for the supply of 20kg of cocaine over a five-month period, which was worth £1m at wholesale but had a much higher street value.
“By analyzing mobile phones, the structure of the gang and how they operate is revealed.
“Brown appeared to be the ringleader of a group that arranged for Royal to travel from Newport to Southend – a journey of more than 350 miles – to collect the cocaine before Hassan delivered them through Newport.
“I am pleased with the prison sentence, which hopefully sends a clear message to those involved in the supply of drugs, that we are not in favor of profiting from the suffering of others.
“We are appealing to anyone with any information or who may have witnessed suspicious activity to contact us. We take all intelligence seriously and will investigate.”
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Armani Brown was jailed for seven years and eight months for two counts of supplying Class A drugs, while Hasan was jailed for five years and seven months for the same offences.
Phillip Royal received the same sentence as his co-accused Hassan for being concerned in the supply of cocaine, a Class A drug.