Cardiff drug gang jailed for 45 years after fatal sale

A major drugs operation that recruited teenagers to deliver Class A substances on e-bikes across Cardiff has been dismantled, with nine members now behind bars for a combined total exceeding 45 years.

Ricardo Brown, 26, from Butetown, ran the ‘MJ’ drug line for four years from his base in Ely, living an extravagant lifestyle funded by his criminal enterprise. Police evidence included social media images showing Brown, Levi Robson and Jaydon Watkins posing in a rented Lamborghini, alongside videos of gang members ‘cooking’ crack cocaine and photographs of them weighing drugs whilst holding large amounts of cash.

The network, which operated mainly in Cardiff but extended across south Wales from 2020 until arrests in December 2024, exploited vulnerable young people as street runners. Brown’s right-hand man, Dylan Stanger, 25, from Barry, helped coordinate the operation that ultimately caused a preventable death.

In June 2020, a customer who had never tried heroin before contacted the MJ line and purchased the drug. Within 48 hours, she had died. The cause of death was recorded as ‘mixed drug toxicity, including heroin.’ Cardiff Crown Court heard this death was directly attributable to the MJ line.

Following South Wales Police’s Operation Sittella investigation by the Cardiff and Vale Organised Crime Unit, all nine defendants pleaded guilty to multiple drugs offences. They were sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd January.

The sentences:

Ricardo Brown received 12 years and five months for conspiring to supply Class A drugs.

Dylan Stanger got seven years and nine months for conspiring to supply Class A drugs and conspiring to be concerned in the supply of Class B drugs.

Sam Hatton, 18, from Ely, was a runner who broke away to establish his own drug line. He received five years for conspiring to supply Class A drugs, conspiring to be concerned in the supply of Class B drugs, and being concerned in the supply of cocaine.

Thomas Haysham, 25, from Barry, was sentenced to five years and ten months for conspiring to supply Class A drugs and conspiring to be concerned in the supply of Class B drugs.

Lewis Adams, 27, from Barry, who supplied wholesale quantities of cocaine, received four years and five months for conspiring to supply Class A drugs.

Ieuan Coombes, 21, from Ely, was jailed for three years and eight months for conspiring to supply Class A drugs and being concerned in the supply of cocaine after distributing drugs beyond Cardiff.

Levi Robson, 24, from Ely, who managed drug supply and directed runners, got three years and six months for conspiring to supply Class A drugs.

Jaydon Watkins, from Ely, operated a cannabis supply line linked to the group and received three years for conspiring to supply Class A drugs and conspiring to be concerned in the supply of Class B drugs.

Stacey Cassemis, 37, from Ely, allowed the gang to use her home as a base where officers discovered a kilogram block of cocaine. She received a two-year suspended prison sentence.

Detective Chief Inspector Tim Jones, Senior Investigating Officer from South Wales Police, said: “This was a highly organised criminal operation with clear leadership and defined roles, driven entirely by profit and complete disregard for the harm caused to others.

“Ricardo Brown and his accomplices were behind the supply of significant amounts of class A and Class B drugs.

“What makes their offences even worse is their exploitation of children – they didn’t think twice about putting them in danger and at serious risk, for their own greed and profit.

“The sad reality is that the exploitation of young children by drugs gangs is common practice – dealers will identify the most vulnerable in our communities and put them in harm’s way while running things in the background.

“This is happening today, in communities across south Wales, and we all have a responsibility and a moral obligation to look for the signs of exploitation and act on them.

“In doing so, we are putting the dealers behind bars but also rescuing and safeguarding children who for whatever reason have found themselves in the grip of what is a miserable and dangerous existence at the hands of criminals.”