Several heroin dealers have been jailed after an undercover police operation
Heroin use in a Welsh town is at 'epidemic levels', a judge said in court.
The remarks came as he sentenced heroin dealers to a total of more than 16 years in prison after an undercover police operation.
The dealers supplied the covert officers with wraps of heroin in the streets and at houses in the town, often delivering the packages by bike.
Some 17 people were arrested during Operation Panther last summer, five of whom were sent down on Thursday after pleading guilty to supplying heroin.
The first person to be jailed at Swansea Crown Court was Samuel Thorne from Station Road in Ammanford.
Andrew Jones, prosecuting, said two undercover police officers were put in touch with Thorne by somebody they met at Llanelli Job Centre on June 15 last year.
Over the following six weeks the officers bought five wraps of heroin from the 29-year-old, arranging to meet at a number of locations in the town including Marsh Street and near the Spar shop in Marine Street.
The court heard that on July 22, Thorne sent out a text message to the contacts in his mobile phone — which now included the undercover officers — advertising his wares and saying he had "banging deals" on offer but potential buyers should "get in touch quickly, they are going fast".
The court heard Thorne had 26 previous convictions for 40 offences.
THE CRIMINALS JAILED IN WALES IN JANUARY
His lawyer said he'd been a drug user since the age of 12, and that almost all his £1,000 monthly income — made up of benefits and casual window cleaning work — went on drugs.
Thorne was sentenced to 45 months in prison.
Also sent down were couple Phillip Williams and Debbie Louise Wood, both 33.
Williams supplied wraps of heroin five times to the undercover officers between May and July, sometimes from his house in Stafford Street and on other occasions on the street.
The court heard Williams — now of Station Road — had 53 previous convictions for 97 offences. He was jailed for 50 months.
His long-term partner Wood — now of Albert Street — was sentenced to two years for supplying heroin to the uncover officers on one occasion. The court heard she had 24 previous convictions for 29 offences.
The fourth person sentenced today as part of Operation Panther was Darren Polverino.
The court heard the officers were directed to drive to Polverino's address in Florence Street by another user and dealer — he supplied the officers with a wrap of heroin. Polverino, now of Stafford Street, has 40 previous convictions for 96 offences.
His lawyer said he'd "provided drugs on request" to somebody he thought was a fellow addict, adding that users "need heroin to function in the way we need to breathe". Polverino, 39, was sentenced to three years in prison.
The fifth person sentenced was 37-year-old David Anthony Richard Williams. The court heard the undercover officers were asked by a man they met at Llanelli's Choose Life drop-in centre to drive him to a flat in Burry Port — the officers handed over £30 for heroin, and Williams arrived 10 minutes later with the drugs. Williams, of Station Road, Burry Port — who has 45 previous convictions for some 83 offences — was sentenced 40 months in prison.
Sending them all down, Judge Geraint Walters said police had launched Operation Panther because the levels of heroin use and dealing in Llanelli "has reached epidemic levels".
The judge said there was a "large group of people who are engaged in the use and distribution" of heroin in the town, and their activities were damaging not just to themselves but to the wider community.
He said he wanted the message to go out from the court that anyone involved in the supplying of "this dreadful drug" could expect prison.
Further court hearings in relation to Operation Panther arrests are expected in the coming months.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/heroin-use-welsh-town-epidemic-12584899
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