Police have shared pictures of what they have described as a "major victory" against drug gangs in Wales. They show a compartment in a van's floor which was stuffed with almost £40,000 in cash, images of a clandestine meeting in Abergele and a haul of high purity cocaine.
All were taken as part of a covert investigation dubbed Operation Blue Cobalt to snare some of the 14 members of two organised crime groups bringing misery to Wales.
The conspirators were jailed at Caernarfon Crown Court this week over plotting to supply cocaine and cannabis in a £6m crime in our region using Encrochat-style messages. A judge put 13 of the members behind bars for a total of 109 years and seven months. A fourteenth member will learn his fate later.
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Now, North Wales Police have released these images showing how police tracked the plotters' movements between December 1, 2019 and April 27 last year.
One shows Darren Nelson, 32, and Daniel Crossley, 36, exchanging drugs and cash at a secret meeting near Kinmel Manor Hotel in Abergele on March 1 last year. Police say Nelson then visited the house in Greenfield of Thomas James Davies, 26, who ran a North Wales organised crime group.
In another shot, there is a compartment under the floor of a van, which police say had been stuffed with bundles of cash to the value of £38,000, after Darren Nelson was stopped leaving North Wales on March 16, 2021.
And a final picture is said to show a haul of high purity cocaine. Nelson, helped by his courier Richard Wood, 58, had been supplying the drug to an organised crime group based in the Holywell area. Police hailed a "major victory" after the successful prosecutions in which every defendant pleaded guilty and no trial was needed.
Detective Superintendent Tony Underhill, of North Wales Police's Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: "Today’s sentences are the result of a painstaking covert operation by a team of dedicated and hardworking officers, following information received from the National Crime Agency.
"The scale and sophistication of the operation run by these Organised Crime Gangs cannot be over-emphasized, and the disruption of their business across our force region was a major victory in the war against drugs.
"We are, as ever indebted to the close working partnership we enjoy with our colleagues from Merseyside Police, and criminals should be under no illusion that we will continue to work across borders to bring them to justice."
North Wales Police say they are committed to making their region the safest place in the UK, and today’s sentences go "some way towards that goal".
It came as a judge praised everyone involved in both the prosecution and defence of the complex case. His Honour Timothy Petts at Caernarfon Crown Court said: "I record my thanks and appreciation to all those involved in the detection and prosecution of this case, both in the Liverpool and North Wales arms.
"This was clearly a very large operation that has been disrupted and led to long prison sentences for very many people." He also said defence teams had worked hard to grasp the evidence against their clients.
How it worked
The investigation centred on Daniel Crossley, a resident of the Rhuddlan area, who sourced cocaine and cannabis, and facilitated supply to the Tommy Davies Organised Crime Group (OCG) in Flintshire.
Despite serving time in prison, Davies used both legitimate phones and devices which had been smuggled into prison. He had trusted members of his OCG who managed the day to day running of the criminal network, including his mother Dawn Davies, 47, brother Liam Davies, 22, and Sophie Roberts, 26.
Arrangements would be made so that either the drugs would be collected in Merseyside, where a North Wales courier would travel and meet in specific locations, or the Merseyside courier (Robert Wood and on occasion Darren Nelson) travelled to North Wales and met for an exchange of cash and or drugs to take place.
Dawn and Sophie would receive almost daily instructions from Thomas Davies in relation to the collection of drug debts, management of finances and drug deliveries into Holywell. Dawn Davies was assisted by Michael Munnelly, who acted as a debt collector on behalf of the OCG, and a network of individuals who would either sub deal or street deal in the Holywell area.
The defendants
Overall, the eleven men and two women have been put behind bars for a total of 109 years and seven months. They include:
Darren Nelson, 32, of Whitfield Road, Walton, was jailed for 15 years and nine months.
Robert Wood, 58, of Stamfordham Drive, Garston, was jailed for nine years and 11 months.
Daniel Jerome Crossley, 36, of Frances Avenue, Rhyl, was jailed for 10 years.
Dawn Davies, 47, of Nant Y Coed, Holywell, was sent to prison for nine years and six months.
Matthew Daniel Forrester, 27, of Rhodfa Wenlo, Greenfield, was jailed for three years and two months.
Sophie Louise Roberts, 26, of The Close, Greenfield, was jailed for 10 years and four months.
Thomas Arron Wilson, 32, of Cilgant Yr Hen Ysgol, Greenfield, was imprisoned for eight years and three months.
Liam Davies, 22, of Nant y Coed, Pen y Maes, Holywell, was jailed for six years and nine months for conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis resin.
Peter Beecham, 38, of St Brides Road, Egremont, Merseyside, was jailed for five years and three months for conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis resin.
Thomas Davies, 26, of Glan Y Don, Greenfield, Flintshire, was jailed for eleven years and eight months for conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis resin.
Dayle Owens, 31, of River View, New Brighton Road, Bagillt, was jailed for eight years for conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis resin.
Michael Munnelly, 40, of Fair View, Pant y Wacco, Lloc, Holywell, was jailed for eight years and three months solely for conspiring to supply cocaine.
Charlie McEvilly, 24, of Y Dreflan, Maes Pennant, Flintshire, was jailed for two years and nine months for a lesser offence of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and cannabis. He was also sent to prison for a further six months for breaching a suspended sentence.
