Dealer Caught After Burglar Steals £17k Cocaine from Shed

A drug dealer’s criminal enterprise was exposed in an unusual twist when a burglar broke into his garden shed and stole his cocaine stash worth £17,000 💼⚖️

Daniel Gibbins, 39, of Lasgarn View, Varteg, was storing 172g of cocaine in a Primark bag in the shed at his mother’s house in Pontypool when the break-in occurred at around 3am on Saturday, 24th May.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that Gibbins was using a “small group of street dealers” to sell the class A drugs. The burglar dropped the bag during the theft, allowing police to trace the contents back to Gibbins when they investigated the break-in.

Prosecutor Hywel Davies told the court that officers found additional amounts of cocaine, cannabis, Pregabalin, and £210 cash in the defendant’s bedroom. Gibbins initially claimed the cocaine was for personal use but later admitted the charges.

Defence barrister Tim Naylor said: “His life has been blighted by the use of drugs for some years and he was dealing to fund his own cocaine habit. The defendant was buying nine ounces at a time and using a small group of street dealers. This is a 39-year-old man still living at home who was dealing drugs out of his shed.”

Judge Shomon Khan told Gibbins that he had put his family “in harm’s way” and could only “speculate” that the burglar had known about the cocaine storage. The defendant, who has eight previous convictions for 32 offences, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison.

Gibbins pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine, possession of a class B drug, and possession of a class C drug.