A drug dealer in a "formidable" gang has been jailed for 10 years.
After a lengthy investigation, Dominic Edwards, 32, of Hafan Deg in North Wales, appeared before the courts after plotting to supply drugs from Merseyside to North Wales. Edwards, who admitted a string of offences, was the last member in the gang to be sentenced after a £6 million drugs plot was uncovered during Operation Blue Cobalt.
Caernarfon Crown Court heard how the 32-year-old committed offences in the Chester area in 2019 and, while being under investigation, he committed further offences in the North Wales organised crime group. It operated as a "formidable force as a drugs consortium" worth up to £6 million, North Wales Live reports.
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Prosecutor Anna Pope said police stopped a BMW car in Hooton on February 12, 2019 in which Edwards was a passenger. A bag of cannabis bush, traces on the lap of Edwards, and a lock knife were found.
A subsequent search of Edwards' home found 13 packs of crack cocaine worth £130 and 10 packs of heroin worth £100 in his underwear. He also had two mobile phones and £530 in cash in his possession. Having denied supplying drugs, he said he had been to Chester to score drugs.
But while under investigation, police had been tracking a county lines gang which sourced cocaine and cannabis on Merseyside, bringing it to North Wales. The court heard that Edwards was part of that gang in early 2020, collecting money from dealing and was seen travelling to North Wales areas to drop them off. Drugs, not formally linked to him, were also found in a summerhouse in his back garden.
In 2021, the court heard how Edwards "ran off" when police executed a warrant at his home, throwing a bag over the fence, which later found to contain wraps of cocaine. Andrew Green, defending, said Edwards had become an "enhanced" prisoner and is taking part in a bricklaying course. He added: "He just wants to get on with his life. He wants to do bricklaying and put all of this behind him."
Judge His Honour Timothy Petts said: "You are the last of a large number of defendants (I have seen) in relation to the large scale supply of cannabis and cocaine into North Wales. You were a street dealer in Holywell advertising drugs for sale on your phones with others. It was a significant role."
Edwards admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine in North Wales and was jailed for eight years. He also admitted possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply it in Chester and was jailed for two years, to run consecutively. Other sentences are to run concurrently.
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