Six more drugs arrests as judge labels Mid Wales one of the worst areas
Six more people have been charged with drugs offences in Mid Wales after a judge labelled the area one of the worst in Wales for drug problems.
Dyfed-Powys Police is continuing to dismantle drug gangs across Powys, and a further six arrests and charges were made this week.
As part of Operation Regent, a total of 19 people have now been charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs in the area.
The most recent arrests and charges have been brought against six men, mostly from Merseyside.
The charges come just days after Judge Niclas Parry, sitting at Mold Crown Court said areas of Mid Wales have been blighted by class A drugs.
During a sentencing of a Mid Wales case, he said that the Newtown and Welshpool areas were being blighted by drugs.
He added people were suffering and crime was being committed in what he described as one of the “worst places in Wales” for drug problems.
The latest men charged are Ryan Langshaw, 20; Jack Ross, 20, of no fixed abode, Michael John Williams, 20, of Speke; Nathan Duringer, 18, of Shrewsbury; Jack Chew, 18, of Speke and Daniel Putterill, 20, of Speke.
All appeared at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Courts and were remanded to prison.
The Dyfed-Powys Police Serious Organised Crime Team recently travelled to Merseyside to make the arrests against those believed to be involved in the couriering of class A drugs into Powys using county lines supply chains.
Chief Inspector Matt Scrase, who is leading Operation Regent, said: “This is a great result for Dyfed-Powys Police and the communities within Powys affected by drugs.
"While SOCT has been busy making arrests in Merseyside, local officers and drug treatment agencies have continued in their work to engage with vulnerable drug users as well as provide reassurance to the wider community about the work that is being carried out and the reasons why.”
The County Lines groups tend to use a local property, generally belonging to a vulnerable person, sometimes drug users, as a base for their activities. This is known as 'cuckooing' and will often happen by force or coercion. Advice and support is being offered to any local vulnerable adults and teenagers exploited in order to maximise their profit from drug supply.
To report anything suspicious or concerns about the selling and taking of drugs in their community call 101, or report online.
