News

Judge praises detectives after cocaine gang jailed for 169 years

Published

10 years ago

September 30, 2016

cocaine THREE Dyfed-Powys detectives have been commended today (Sept 30) for their roles in bringing down the biggest cocaine smuggling gang ever seen in west and south Wales.

Judge Paul Thomas’ comments came as he passed down sentences on the final seven members of the gang and took the final tally of jail terms to 169 years.

Operation Phobos and Operation Pigeon smashed gangs in Liverpool, Manchester, south Wales and Milford Haven and led to sentencing hearings at Swansea crown court that lasted all week.

In total, 19 people were jailed. Liverpool-based ring leader Ian Edwards received a 14 year sentence.

The main supply route was Liverpool to Clydach and later Llanelli, but Brian Bergamo, aged 31, of Vera Road, Clydach, spread the network to Milford Haven and recruited Leigh Salter. Salter had his own network of dealers and users.

Today, Bergamo was jailed for eight years. Salter was jailed in June for five years and three months.

By the time the police moved in the gang had shipped more than £18m worth of high purity cocaine into south and west Wales.

After the last of the suppliers had been jailed, Judge Thomas formally commended Det Sgt Rhys Jones, Det Con Sarah Totterdale and Det Con Steven Jones. He also commended civilian analyst Nathan John.

It had been, he said, a quite exceptional, detailed and complicated police investigation that had brought to book a very large conspiracy.

The methods deployed, and the analysis of a colossal amount of data, had been of the highest order.

The public owed all four a great deal of thanks, he added.

Details of the sheer size of the operation, and of the money being made, emerged during this week’s hearings.

When detectives arrested Edwards they found he had a photograph on his mobile telephone of an estimated £100,000 in used notes stuffed into a kitchen cupboard.

Andrew Price, aged 38, of Pentre Nicklaus Village, Llanelli, helped to arrange safe houses for the gang. He drove around in an £80,000 Mercedes and bought a £250,000 boat using his bank debit card. Today, he was jailed for 12 years.

The hearings also revealed the tragedies involved. Matthew Roberts, aged 32, of Maes Conwy, Llanelli, was jailed for 12 years—but he also helped his sister to receive a five and a half year sentence after he persuaded her to store his drugs at her home.

The west Wales gang members included Dane Bush, aged 29, of High Street, St Clears. He was jailed for eleven and a half years.

All the defendants had admitted, or been convicted of, conspiring to supply cocaine between November 2014 and November 2015.

Crime

Uxbridge motorist banned after Pembrokeshire drug-drive stop

Published

1 hour ago

June 24, 2026

Sarah Jane Absalom

Driver was heading home after visiting former girlfriend when police stopped him on the A477

A WEST London motorist has been banned after being caught driving on the A477 in Broadmoor with a cocaine metabolite and cannabis in his system.

Danny Small, 32, was stopped by police carrying out routine checks at around 11:30am on January 28.

After providing a positive roadside drug swipe, Small was taken to a police station, where blood tests showed he had 157mcg of benzoylecgonine in his system. The legal limit is 50mcg.

He also had 2.9mcg of Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol in his system. The legal limit is 2mcg.

Small, of Little London Close, Uxbridge, appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court this week, where he pleaded guilty to two drug-driving offences.

Probation officer Julie Norman told the bench that Small had been visiting his former girlfriend in Pembrokeshire and was driving home to Uxbridge at the time of the offence.

Ms Norman said Small was a regular cannabis and cocaine user.

“This helps treat his undiagnosed ADHD,” she said.

“He didn’t think the drugs would still have been in his system, as he’d consumed the drugs several days earlier. But drugs can often remain in the system for several weeks.”

Small was sentenced to a 12-month community order, during which he must complete 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He was fined £80 and ordered to pay a £114 court surcharge and £85 costs. He was disqualified from driving for 15 months.

News

Uxbridge motorist banned after Pembrokeshire drug-drive stop

Published

1 hour ago

June 24, 2026

Sarah Jane Absalom

Driver was heading home after visiting former girlfriend when police stopped him on the A477

A WEST London motorist has been banned after being caught driving on the A477 in Broadmoor with a cocaine metabolite and cannabis in his system.

Danny Small, 32, was stopped by police carrying out routine checks at around 11:30am on January 28.

After providing a positive roadside drug swipe, Small was taken to a police station, where blood tests showed he had 157mcg of benzoylecgonine in his system. The legal limit is 50mcg.

He also had 2.9mcg of Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol in his system. The legal limit is 2mcg.

Small, of Little London Close, Uxbridge, appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court this week, where he pleaded guilty to two drug-driving offences.

Probation officer Julie Norman told the bench that Small had been visiting his former girlfriend in Pembrokeshire and was driving home to Uxbridge at the time of the offence.

Ms Norman said Small was a regular cannabis and cocaine user.

“This helps treat his undiagnosed ADHD,” she said.

“He didn’t think the drugs would still have been in his system, as he’d consumed the drugs several days earlier. But drugs can often remain in the system for several weeks.”

Small was sentenced to a 12-month community order, during which he must complete 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He was fined £80 and ordered to pay a £114 court surcharge and £85 costs. He was disqualified from driving for 15 months.

Crime

Carpenter banned after drug-driving in camper van

Published

1 hour ago

June 24, 2026

Sarah-Jane Absalom

Pembroke Dock man was five times over the cannabis limit

A PEMBROKESHIRE carpenter has been banned from driving after being caught behind the wheel of his camper van while five times over the drug-drive limit.

James Toulouse, 35, was stopped by police shortly before midnight on December 20, 2025, as he drove his white Mercedes Vito along Buttermilk Lane in Pembroke.

“There was a strong smell of cannabis coming from the vehicle and the driver, who was James Toulouse, appeared glazed, as his eyes were red and bleary,” Crown Prosecutor Sian Vaughan told Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court.

A roadside drug swipe proved positive. Further tests showed Toulouse had 11mcg of Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol in his system. The legal limit is 2mcg.

The court heard this was Toulouse’s second drug-driving offence in ten years.

Toulouse, of Clarence Street, Pembroke Dock, pleaded guilty to drug-driving.

He was represented by solicitor Michael Kelleher, who said the defendant works as a carpenter.

“Obviously it’s not going to be easy for him to carry on with his work, but he’s fully intending to do so,” he said.

Toulouse was disqualified from driving for 36 months. He was fined £350 and ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £140 surcharge.