Five men jailed for drug and modern slavery offences in county lines crackdown
Five men from Cardiff have been sentenced in a county lines crackdown Photo cred: British Transport Police
Five Cardiff men have been jailed for drug and modern slavery offences.
The men, from Ely, Pentyrch and Penylan, were part of a county lines operation across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan where they exploited teenage boys to sell drugs on their behalf.
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County lines is a form of criminal exploitation. It is when criminals befriend children, either online of offline, and then manipulate them into drug dealing. The 'lines' refer to mobile phones that are used to control a young person who is delivering drugs, often to towns outside their home county.
Source: The Children’s Society
The police investigation revealed that between November 2023 and January 2024 four victims would spend most of their days and night in secluded wooded areas, sat on old furniture, under makeshift tents carrying machetes and knives and selling crack cocaine and heroin.
It was a well-established drugs line which had been operating for several years in the Cardiff area, according to South Wales Police.
Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Tim Jones said: “Exploiting vulnerable children in this way is despicable. Exploitation and slavery have no place in our South Wales communities, and we will do all we can to arrest those involved.”
“South Wales Police is committed to identifying and safeguarding any young or vulnerable people in the community that are being exploited by Organised Crime Groups such as this one.”
Chakeel Lovell and Joshua Dunbar Photo cred: South Wales Police
Cameron Farrah and Tyrese Jones Photo cred: South Wales Police
All five appeared at Newport Crown Court on March 18, and were sentenced as follows:
Cameron Farrah, 25, from Ely, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class-A drugs, possession with intent to supply Class-A drugs, and two counts of trafficking a child. Sentenced to 8 years and 9 months
Tyrese Jones, 23, from Ely, pleaded guilty two counts of conspiracy to supply Class-A drugs, possession with intent to supply Class-A drugs, and trafficking a child. Sentenced to 8 years and 9 months
Chakeel Lovell, 23, from Penylan, pleaded guilty to two counts conspiracy to supply Class-A drugs and possession with intent to supply Class-A drugs. Sentenced to 6 years and 4 months
Joshua Dunbar, 28, from Pentyrch, pleaded guilty to concealing criminal property, namely £104,000 worth of cash and cryptocurrency. Sentenced to 25 months
Taylor Williams, 25, from Ely, pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of an organised crime group. Sentenced to a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, with 120 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation requirement
