COUNTY LINES GANG JAILED.

Byline: ROBERT DALLING

THREE Midland men have been jailed for a total of more than eight years after police busted a County Lines drugs ring in Wales.

Two men from Dudley and a third from Walsall travelled to Llanelli to take part in an operation to supply cocaine, heroin, synthetic cannabinoids ('spice') and cannabis. But they were caught after police spotted local man Damien Hearne, who was described in court as 'a gopher.'.

Swansea Crown Court heard it was a 'County Lines operation', where a telephone line referred to as Mitch was used to facilitate the sale of the drugs. Ravi Talware, Daniel Higgins and Ben Walker all travelled from the West Midlands to the town in south west Wales to take part in an operation.

Talware, 29, of Quicksand Lane, Walsall, admitted two counts of conspiring to supply class A drugs and two counts of conspiring to supply class B drugs, along with having an offensive weapon.

Higgins, 37, of Vauxhall Street, Dudley, admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply class B drugs, and one count of having an offensive weapon.

Walker, 21, of Bath Meadow, Cradley, Dudley, admitted conspiring to supply class A drugs.

Hearne, 35, of Elizabeth Street in Llanelli, admitted two counts of conspiring to supply class A drugs and one count of conspiring to supply class B drugs. Talware was jailed for four-and a-half years, while Walker and Hearne were both jailed for three years. Higgins was jailed for 14 months.

Judge Paul Thomas QC said: "Three of you came down from the West Midlands to peddle vile drugs in Llanelli, a town which has had more than it's share of problems."

The court heard that in February police were on mobile patrol in Llanelli when they spotted Hearne riding a pedal bike in a lane frequently used by drug dealers.

In the lane, they saw him with known drug users in the middle of a drug deal. Hearne was searched and 18 foil wraps containing 14.5 grams of spice were discovered. Later that day, police caught Talware, Higgins and Walker trying to flee from the address in Llanelli. The court heard several bags were thrown over the fence as they made off, which were found to contain 90 wraps of cocaine, 100 wraps of heroin and cash.

Weapons were also discovered including what was referred to as a police-style retractable pole and a hunting knife. Robin Rouch, prosecuting, said Talware was seen as the leader in the operation.

Dyfed-Powys Police Det Sgt Andy Clatworthy said: "I thank the public for giving us information so we can target drug dealers who take advantage of the most vulnerable in society."

CAPTION(S):

From left, Damien Hearne, Ben Walker, Daniel Higgins and Ravi Talware