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| £500,000 Cardiff heroin gang jailed for 37 years | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Six members of a gang who were caught with £500,000 worth of heroin to be sold on the streets of Cardiff and Swansea have been jailed. | Six members of a gang who were caught with £500,000 worth of heroin to be sold on the streets of Cardiff and Swansea have been jailed. |
| The group had been running a major operation to bring in the Class A drug from Liverpool. | The group had been running a major operation to bring in the Class A drug from Liverpool. |
| David Cook, Damien Farrugia, David Hale, Joel Harris, Anthony Watson and Joseph Thomas were jailed for 37 years. | David Cook, Damien Farrugia, David Hale, Joel Harris, Anthony Watson and Joseph Thomas were jailed for 37 years. |
| The probe was initially small-scale until officers realised the scale of the dealing, Cardiff Crown Court heard. | The probe was initially small-scale until officers realised the scale of the dealing, Cardiff Crown Court heard. |
| Sentencing, Judge Tom Crowther QC told the men they had been "blinded by greed, unable to see the effects of heroin on society at large and on other people's children". | |
| 'Wholesale quantities' | |
| The court heard the conspiracy was uncovered when police arrested Thomas - who was the man at the centre of it - outside his parents home in Butetown, Cardiff. | |
| A bag he was carrying contained £73,620 split up into smaller labelled bags. | |
| A search of his home found almost 5kg of heroin worth £500,000, which was split into 500g bricks. | |
| Prosecutor Mike Hammett described the drugs as "wholesale quantities" and said most was stored in a bin in Thomas's garden. | |
| Two blackberry mobile phones also found at his address contained 1,000 messages relating to the supply of heroin. | |
| The police operation lasted 18 months. | |
| The court heard how Watson, from Pentwyn, Cardiff, was a greatly trusted associate providing expertise and testing the drug for quality. |