Boasting drug dealer who posed with wad of cash on social media only has to pay back £48k

A commercial drug dealer who made more than £1m through selling cocaine and heroin and has been ordered to pay back just a fraction of that amount.

He faces a year in prison if he does not pay up.

Mark Wainfur, 33, from Newport, sold 15kg of cocaine and 5kg of heroin before he was caught by police who infiltrated his EncroChat phone.

The high level dealer was found with photographs of class A drugs and of him posing with wads of bank notes, Wales Online reports.

Between April 2020 and June 2020, the defendant had been dealing drugs in the south Wales area and using the anonymous network to conduct his business.

Mark Wainfur posing with a huge wad of cash estimated to be in the thousands (CPS)

Wainfur was accused of dealing drugs between April 2020 and June 2020 in south Wales before being caught by police (Gwent Police handout)

But officers working under the Gwent Police -run Operation Venetic gained access to messages and images from Wainfur's phone which blew open his drug enterprise.

Speaking at his sentencing, prosecutor Roger Griffiths said: "Law enforcement activity was unable to identify users of a secure messaging platform commonly known as EncroChat where users would pay €850 for a contract.

"These phones have few of the customary features other than messages, calls and photographs.

"Users are allocated a handle and a unique pin number, and they use those details to contact each other.

"Owners of the devices regularly change handles when they purchase new phones or devices."

Wainfur operated using the handle "Ornatetown" and was estimated to have sold in the region of 15.5kg kilograms of cocaine and 5kg of heroin during the two-month operation.

A pile of cash totalling £9,500 was also found by police in Wainfur's home (Gwent Police)

Half a kilogram of cocaine was found in Wainfur's Newport home (Gwent Police)

Among all the images discovered on the defendant's phone was a photograph taken on May 11, 2020, which depicted half a kilogram of cocaine, and another photo on May 15, 2020, which depicted £9,500 in cash.

He was arrested at his home in Motherwell Court on September 15 last year where police discovered Rolex watches and gold jewellery worth £170,000.

The defendant later pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

The court heard he had numerous previous convictions including possession with intent to supply class A drugs, being concerned in the production of class A drugs and he was made subject to a Serious Crime Prevention Order.

Wainfur was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in January this year.

Wainfur pictured wearing some of the jewellery that was discovered in his home (South Wales Echo)

Waifer, pictured posing in a cannabis factory, was jailed for 12 years (South Wales Echo)

The defendant appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday for a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing.

Mr Griffiths told the court that the total amount of money made by Wainfur came to £1,124,035.

But the dealer's available assets comes to £48,952.

Judge Neil Bidder KC made a confiscation order for Wainfur to pay £48,952 within six months.

If he fails to pay the sum on time he will serve an additional one year in prison in default.