03/29/2024

Wales News Online

Local & National News for Wales

Drug dealer who ‘trafficked’ a 14-year-old to sell drugs gets jail sentence

AN 18-year-old Birmingham man who was arrested and charged within three days in connection to County Lines drug supply in Llanelli has been jailed for four-and-a-half-years having appeared at Swansea Crown Court today, Friday (May 3).

Coe had pleaded guilty to drugs related offences including trafficking a 14-year-old.

He had been charged with trafficking a 14-year-old to sell drugs, as well as six counts of supplying and possessing heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis, and one of possessing a weapon.

Coe was arrested on Tuesday, March 12 after officers stopped a car they suspected had links to organised crime, on the outskirts of Llanelli.

The charge of human trafficking is thought to be the first in Wales to be prosecuted in connection to County Lines drug supply.

County Lines is an emerging national issue, where organised crime groups from urban areas such as London, Liverpool and Birmingham put children and vulnerable adults between themselves and the risk of detection by manipulating them into carrying and selling drugs.

‘Runners’ will be sent across county boundaries to areas like Llanelli, Newtown, and Haverfordwest to deliver and/or sell Class A drugs at the other end of the line.

You can report suspicious activity or concerns about the selling and taking of drugs in your community by calling 101, or reporting online. To report information anonymously, call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Learn more about the issue and how to spot the signs someone is vulnerable to County Lines exploitation, here: https://www.dyfed-powys.police.uk/en/newsroom/campaigns/op-guardian-county-lines/

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