Five members of drugs gang jailed for more than 30 years

Members of an organised crime group (OCG) who supplied class A and class B drugs across Gwent and Gloucestershire have received prison sentences totalling more than 30 years.

Between February and October 2021, Gwent Police carried out enforcement activities throughout the south of Monmouthshire which led to the seizure of drugs, cash and mobile phones.

The phones seized not only showed their owners’ significant involvement in the supply of drugs, it also showed all those who worked with them.

Over the two-year long investigation, officers carried out eight warrants and more than £50,000 worth of class A and B drugs were seized, along with over £40,000 of cash. In one warrant alone, £38,000 was found in a money safe disguised as a book.

The below people were sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday 26 January for conspiracy to supply a class A drug – cocaine and class B drugs including ketamine, cannabis and amphetamines:

• 49-year-old Andrew Harris from Cinderford received five years and seven months
• 47-year-old Helga Boehm from Cinderford received four years and ten months
• 35-year-old Matthew Nicholas from Newport received eight years and two months
• 33-year-old Ashley Bollen from Caldicot received eight years and one month
• 32-year-old Peter Wright from Chepstow received five years for the drug related offences – in addition to this – Wright received an additional six years and nine months for an assault, not connected to this case. These sentences will run consecutively, meaning, his final sentence is 11 years and ten months imprisonment.

All defendants plead guilty at an earlier hearing.

The senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Steven Thomas said: “We have successfully dismantled a major drugs gang who are now behind bars for their parts in peddling misery across South Wales and Gloucestershire. These men and women were not simply dealing drugs to feed their own addiction, they had made the decision to become involved in the supply of large quantities of harmful drugs to make money for themselves at the expense of others.

“We are committed to creating a hostile environment for serious and organised crime in Gwent. Illegal drugs have no place in society – they cause harm to those that become addicted to them and to their families, friends and the wider communities.

“These sentences send a strong reminder to those involved in drug supply in and around the Gwent area that we will leave no stone unturned when it comes to targeting those who involve themselves in these illegal activities.”