Pontlliw man jailed for six years over drug smuggling plot with 'The Baron'

Gavin Smith, 44, conspired with a New Zealand contact to smuggle cocaine and ketamine hidden inside rope. He was sentenced to six years and nine months.

Pontlliw man smuggled drugs inside hollowed rope to New Zealand

A 44-year-old man from Pontlliw was jailed for six years and nine months after conspiring with an overseas contact, known only as 'The Baron', to smuggle cocaine and ketamine to New Zealand concealed inside lengths of hollowed-out rope, south-wales.police.uk reports.

Gavin Smith, of Swansea Road, Pontlliw, was first arrested on 28 March on unrelated matters when officers attended his caravan. Inside, police discovered a vacuum-packed kilo of cannabis alongside quantities of ketamine, cocaine and psilocybin — the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. Digital weighing scales, a coffee grinder containing white powder used to cut drugs, a drug press hidden under a bed, and coffee pods adapted for drug storage were also recovered.

Officers retrieved Smith's mobile phone from the microwave in the caravan and gained access to his communications on the encrypted Signal app. Messages showed he had been dealing cannabis in half-kilo quantities for approximately ten years.

The phone also led investigators to a storage unit Smith had rented on a nearby industrial estate. Inside, cardboard boxes labelled with different cannabis strains contained 15 vacuum-sealed bags, each holding 1lb of cannabis. Police also recovered £678 in cash and a notebook bearing what appeared to be 12 random words. Those words proved to be cryptocurrency recovery seed phrases, granting officers access to Smith's crypto wallet, which held £5,763.

Rope smuggling scheme

Prosecutor Ian Wright told Swansea Crown Court — sitting remotely at Cardiff Magistrates' Court — that Signal messages also revealed a smuggling conspiracy with 'The Baron', a contact who appeared to be based in New Zealand.

Smith, a former plumber, offered to supply ketamine to 'The Baron' at £2,000 per kilo. 'The Baron' proposed hiding the drug inside shipments of rope: Smith was instructed to hollow out the core of rope lengths and use an air compressor to force the ketamine inside before sealing each length in a vacuum-packed bag.

Smith told 'The Baron' that if the method proved effective, a further contact could provide five or six kilos of ketamine per week. On 1 April, 'The Baron' messaged Smith to confirm the rope shipment had arrived successfully in New Zealand and that payment had been sent to Smith's crypto wallet.

The pair subsequently discussed extending the scheme to cocaine. 'The Baron' indicated he had a contact in Manchester capable of supplying the drug, and a price of £4,000 per kilo was agreed. An initial shipment of two kilos per week was discussed, with the possibility of scaling up to four kilos per week if the method continued to work. In one exchange, also in April, 'The Baron' told Smith a cocaine delivery would reach him within three days; Smith replied that he was ready but needed to purchase a new shrink-wrap heater.

Wright told the court there was no evidence Smith had actually dispatched any cocaine to New Zealand in line with those discussions.

Guilty pleas and sentencing

Smith had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to export ketamine, conspiracy to export cocaine, being concerned in the supply of cannabis, possession of cannabis with intent to supply, possession of ketamine with intent to supply, simple possession of cocaine, simple possession of psilocybin, and two counts of possession of criminal property — one relating to the cash and one to the cryptocurrency.

He has four previous convictions covering six offences, including violent disorder and producing cannabis.

Defending, Hywel Davies said Smith had been principally involved in supplying Class B drugs, describing his involvement in Class A offences as a "brief excursion" and noting that the messages showed Smith had been "apprehensive" throughout. Davies added that Smith was remorseful about the effect his offending would have on his family, and that the prospect of a prolonged separation from his children was causing him considerable distress. Smith intended to return to plumbing once he had served his sentence, Davies said.

The court heard that a proceeds of crime investigation into Smith's finances would now be launched.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)