Wolverhampton drug gang members locked up for running Class A to seaside town
A gang of young men from Wolverhampton have been jailed for their part in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine into Aberystwyth – despite no illegal substances being seized by police.
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Dyfed-Powys Police shut down the county line being run by five men, including two teenagers, that was being run between Wolverhampton and Ceredigion thanks to photos and videos taken by the men using Snapchat.
The investigation – labelled Operation Knoxhill – began in June 2020 when police reported to a disturbance at a flat in Aberystwyth and found two teenage boys, one of whom had been reported missing.
It was then established that members of a gang operating from the West Midlands had 'cuckooed' the address of local heroin user Glenn Williams. The two teenagers – Kyran Hill and Teejay Marks, both aged 16 at the time – were sent to live there, acting as runners for gang members higher up the chain.
Detective Sergeant Steve Jones, Ceredigion Priority Policing Team, said: "Cuckooing is a term used when drugs gangs take over the home of a vulnerable person to establish a base for dealing, storing or taking illegal drugs.
"In this instance, they had targeted Glenn Williams, convincing him to agree to letting them live at his home by offering heroin for his own use. In exchange, he was told to 'keep them in' and 'keep them safe' while they dealt drugs from his home.
"He told officers they would have drugs out on the table at his home – evidence gathered later corroborated this – and that they stayed until they ran out of drugs. During this time they used him as a runner for deals arranged by their upstream controller."
