Liverpudlian drug dealers were caught red-handed in Swansea with more than 800 heroin and crack cocaine deals ready to be supplied to users on the street, a court has heard. They were arrested by officers investigating a Merseyside organised crime group which was operating a drug supply network known to be operating in the city.
Both dealers have been locked up, as well as the vulnerable Swansea woman who allowed her house to be used as a base for their Class A drug dealing.
Kevin Jones, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that the background to the arrest of the dealers was an investigation by South Wales Police into an organised crime group from Liverpool which was running a drugs supply operation in Swansea known as the "Scouse Kev" line. He said that as part of the investigation officers from the organised crime team were in the Townhill area of the city on January 14 this year when they became suspicious of a man carrying a package who was constantly checking his mobile phone and looking over his shoulder.
The officers moved in and searched the suspect, 27-year-old Liverpool man Adam Lomax, and found he was carrying 32 heroin deals and 34 crack cocaine deals. The house where Lomax had been staying on Elphin Gardens was searched but nothing was found. However inquiries led detectives to another property on nearby Geiriol Road which was occupied by 38-year-old Lianne Jenkins. Officers forced entry to the second house later that same day and found Jenkins inside with Liverpudlian Reece Jimoh and a further 305 wraps of heroin and 465 wraps of crack cocaine along with almost £4,500 in cash and a number of mobile phones - one of which was the Scouse Kev order line. The court heard an examination of the phones of the three defendants showed contact between them, as well as messages sent to and from the Scouse Kev number.
Jimoh, aged 23, subsequently gave a "no comment" interview to police; Lomax said he had accrued a £1,200 cannabis debt to his suppliers and then, on January 11, had been given a consignment of drugs and a train ticket to Swansea; Jenkins said she had known Jimoh was a drug dealer when she allowed him to stay at her house.
Reece Kayode John Jimoh, of Lydia Ann Street, Liverpool, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of heroin with intent to supply, possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply, and possession of criminal property - the cash found when police raided Geiriol Road - when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has five previous convictions for nine offences including possession of a handgun when he was aged 14 as well as possession of knives, and possession of cannabis.
Adam James Lomax, of Barkbeth Road, Huyton, Liverpool, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of heroin with intent to supply and to possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply when he appeared in the dock. He has previous convictions for criminal damage and threatening behaviour.
Lianne Zara Jenkins, of Geiriol Road, Townhill, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to allowing premises to be used for Class A drug dealing. She has a previous conviction for conveying mobile phones and Class C drugs into Parc Prison.
Mohammed Anwar Ramzan, for Jimoh, said the defendant had run up a £2,000 cannabis debt in Liverpool, and had come to Swansea shortly before Christmas last year to deal drugs to pay off what he owed. He said his client wanted to "pick up the ruins of his life so far and make something of himself" and had ambitions to become a personal trainer.
John Tarrant, for Lomax, said his client had been pursuing a career as a carpenter before developing a cannabis habit which led "almost inevitably" into debt and then into being "requisitioned" into dealing.
Stuart John, for Jenkins, said the defendant was clearly a very vulnerable individual, and said she acknowledged "the only place she can begin to make the necessary changes in her life is a custodial setting". He said he found himself in the unusual position of not asking for the shortest possible sentence the court could pass for his client but was instead inviting the court to pass a sentence of 12 months.
With 25 per cent discounts for their guilty pleas Jimoh was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison, and Lomax to 31 months. Recorder Aidan Eardley said in law he was bound to pass the shortest possible sentence, and with a one-third discount he sentenced Jenkins to 24 weeks in prison. The defendants will serve up to half those periods in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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