A teenager became involved in a cocaine-dealing operation run by an organised crime group after accruing debts to his own drug supplier, a court has heard. Jordan Evans was provided with a car and money to insure it by the gang and he acted as a courier driving drugs, cash, and people around Cardiff. His involvement came to an abrupt end when the gang torched his personal car in revenge when he refused a job collecting a package.
Andrew Jones, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court that the defendant built up a drug debt of £1,200 to a "third party" and was told he would have to work to discharge it. Evans was then introduced to an ongoing drug conspiracy which was bringing cocaine from Liverpool to south Wales. The 19-year-old was provided with a Skoda car by the gang and was given money to insure it in his own name. The court heard there was one set of keys for the vehicle and after Evans had finished using it for his trips he would hand them back to the gang. For every day he worked his debt was reduced by £50.
The prosecutor gave details of a number of drug supply runs between south Wales and Liverpool in April and May 2019 and said on those days there was phone contact between gang members and Evans as he was "primed" to be ready for the local distribution of the incoming drugs. The court heard that in January 2020 Evans was asked to collect a package on behalf of the gang for which he would be paid. The defendant refused and shortly afterwards his Ford Focus car was set alight. Evans was arrested later that year during the enforcement phase of the the police's Operation Vermont.
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Jordan Evans, now aged 22, of Lascelles Drive, Pontprennau, Cardiff, had previously admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions. Lucy Crowther, for Evans, said the defendant had been aged 19 when he became involved in the offending. She said he entered his guilty plea in July 2020 and been remanded into custody, and while being held in a "particularly restrictive regime" during the pandemic awaiting sentence had twice contracted Covid.
Judge Jeremy Jenkins said the defendant had in effect been acting as a courier for an organised crime operation transporting drugs, money, and people around. He said it was accepted Evans had been acting under instruction from others and had been subject to some pressure which fell short of amounting to a defence of duress. The judge noted the defendant had experienced a "particularly torrid time in custody" and said he was sure Evans had learned his lesson and would not be back before the courts.
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea Evans was sentenced to five years and four months in prison. The court heard he would ordinarily serve up to half that period on custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community but the defendant has already served the equivalent of half his sentence while being held on remand and will be released immediately.
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