A drug dealer who bragged to an undercover officer his phone line was making £3,000 a day sold heroin and crack cocaine to pay off a debt. He was part of a county lines operation which saw him regularly travelling between Cardiff and London.
Ruben Carvalho, 28, played a managerial role in the enterprise which saw him looking after the "CJ drugs line", using the tag "Craddock". Between November 2019 and March 2020, the CJ line was estimated to have made £111,000.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday heard undercover officers were deployed to make test purchases in Cardiff under Operation Talon and an officer known as "Ian" came into contact with the CJ drugs line. Six different numbers were connected to the CJ line, initially based in London but with the defendant's help became established in Cardiff.
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Prosecutor Clare Wilks said the line would send bulk texts to customers advertising class A drugs and would specialise in £10 street deals. The crack cocaine sold by the line would range between 41% and 87% purity and heroin would range between 21% and 44%.
The barrister said: "This defendant was a permanent member of the CJ drugs line and the CJ number was used by him in London and he travelled back and forth between Cardiff and London. He managed a number of runners who were deployed to sell class A drugs to streets users."
Carvalho sold directly to the undercover officer on two occasions, on November 5, 2019, and January 30, 2020. Ms Wilks said: "He said he had no runners and that's why he had to come out himself and bragged his line had been doing £3,000 a day but had decreased to £1,000 a day following the arrests of runners. He asked the officer to spread the number around."
During the duration of Carvahlho's involvement, he dispatched runners from his address in Tudor Street, Riverside, and would frequently travel on National Express coaches to London. Officers monitoring the defendant saw phones associated with the CJ line travelling with him.
The defendant was arrested and gave no comment in his police interview. He later said he had used cannabis from a young age before progressing to heroin and crack cocaine when he was 20, but he claimed he was no longer reliant on the drugs.
Carvalho, now of Neville Street, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and two counts of supply class A drugs. The court heard he had previous convictions for possession with intent to supply heroin and cocaine, possession of criminal property.
Defence barrister Paul Hewitt said pressure was put on his client by those higher up in the chain to repay a drugs debt and after his release from prison for his previous conviction, he was tracked down and told there would be "serious repercussions" if he didn't comply. He denied the defendant was nicknamed CJ, despite him previously telling police he was known as CJ.
Sentencing, Judge Michael Fitton QC said: "Yours was a substantial significant role in its own right.... I do not form the view you were manipulating or controlling others but you had a management role to play for significant financial reward. I reject you are a naïve offender." Carvalho was sentenced to six years imprisonment.
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