Cardiff dealer jailed for county lines drug operation

A Cardiff drug dealer who ran two active “county lines” operations has been locked up for three years after police uncovered his extensive network supplying crack cocaine and heroin across the region.

Courtney Dale, 26, controlled two separate drugs lines that bombarded up to 70 people with more than 2,300 text messages advertising class A drugs during a South Wales Police operation late last year.

Officers arrested Dale at his Brynbala Way home in Trowbridge on 29th December 2025, discovering a pink iPhone alongside a black Nokia phone that had been concealed behind a pipe. Police also seized £5,845 in cash during the raid.

Dale admitted being concerned in the supply of both crack cocaine and heroin when he appeared before Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Monday, 26th January.

Defence barrister Kathryn Lane told the court her client was a “young man who has had his fair share of challenges” and explained he’d accumulated a “drug debt” which could only be repaid by working for drug dealers.

However, prosecutor Emma Meadows revealed Dale’s criminal history stretched to 13 previous convictions covering 29 separate offences.

Sentencing Dale, Judge Jeremy Jenkins said the evidence “showed that you were involved in a very large set up where class A drugs were being distributed”.

The judge noted Dale’s lengthy criminal record as an aggravating factor before handing down a three-year prison sentence. Dale will serve half his sentence behind bars, with the remainder on licence in the community.