Powys drug dealer jailed for part in £14m heroin conspiracy
A Mid Wales drug dealer was among an organised crime gang jailed for more than 150 years for flooding the streets of England and Wales with heroin worth £14 million.
Samuel Lewis, 29 and from Newtown, was sent to prison for three years and six months for his part in the conspiracy.
He was part of a drugs network with tentacles in Liverpool, Plymouth, Gloucester, Hartlepool and across South Wales, Newport Crown Court heard.
Lewis pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin.
Prosecutor Andrew Jones said gang boss Sean Doolan, aged 32, of Greenfield Road, Liverpool, ran the operation which involved the distribution of 150 kgs of heroin throughout the country.
He was arrested last year at the city’s John Lennon Airport while attempting to board a one-way flight to Larnaca in Cyprus with his wife and four children.
Mr Jones told the court: "He knew that the game was over."
Doolan employed a network of couriers to distribute the heroin and deliver cash from the customers to him in Liverpool.
The couriers made in excess of 60 journeys to Merseyside over a seven-month period.
Doolan was jailed for 14 years.
The court was told that one of his clients was from South Wales and when he was investigated it led them to a further conspiracy as he supplied heroin to Powys-based customer Lewis who received more than 20 deliveries.
Judge Richard Williams said: “These offences are so serious only a substantial custodial sentence can be justified.
“The supply of heroin is a grave offence leading to the degradation and human misery of those who digest it and the wider community.
“This conspiracy came to light as a result of a thorough, patient, and skilled police investigation.”
Outside the court, Det Insp Grant Wilson of Tarian, a Welsh regional organised crime unit, said: “There is a human cost to the trade of supplying drugs, and we will work tirelessly to stop this.
“I cannot over-emphasise the dangers of heroin and the harm it can cause to the community as a whole.
"It is good to know that these criminals are now behind bars and unable to continue profiting from the misery their trade brings to our neighbourhoods.
“Tarian will continue to work tirelessly alongside other law enforcement agencies to target those involved in the illegal drugs trade and bring them before the courts.”
Another 17 were jailed at Newport Crown Court for their part in the conspiracy to supply heroin.
