Dealer ordered to pay £2,700 from £54k drug profits

A Caerphilly drug dealer who made more than £50,000 from his criminal enterprise has been ordered to pay back just a fraction of his ill-gotten gains.

Devon Evans ran a lucrative drugs operation alongside three accomplices before police raids brought their activities crashing down. The 23-year-old from Fochriw now faces having to repay £2,700 – the only assets he has left from a criminal venture that netted him £54,487.

The network unravelled when officers swooped on properties in Bargoed on 28th February last year. The investigation exposed a sophisticated operation involving Evans, Logan Adams (21), Luke Cable (24), and Macauley Thomas (27).

Police discovered Thomas had been coordinating cannabis deals between April 2022 and February 2023, with tick lists showing customers owed him around £13,500. Meanwhile, Thomas and Adams were operating what Judge Lucy Crowther described as “running a shop with their phones acting as advertising displays” – flogging cannabis between May 2022 and October 2023.

When officers raided Adams’ flat, they uncovered a stash of designer gear, £7,600 in cash, pepper spray, a machete, and multiple phones. Released on bail, Adams was raided again on 13th June – officers seized more phones, tablets, and £1,395 in cash.

Analysis of the seized devices revealed Adams and Cable were trading drugs between themselves – Cable supplying Adams with ketamine whilst Adams provided cocaine in return. Detectives found 32 voice notes documenting their dealings between May 2022 and May 2023. Adams’ phone also contained a photograph of 13.5g of cocaine sitting on scales.

Evans was arrested on 3rd March last year at his Coronation Crescent home over an unrelated matter. Officers found £1,215 in cash, an iPhone, and 10g of cannabis. His phone messages exposed his own supply operation, including one customer requesting half a kilogram of the drug.

Four months later, Evans was spotted travelling in a stolen vehicle in Brynmawr. The car was later found abandoned following a collision. Inside, police recovered a phone and two bags containing 13.3g of cocaine and 11g of crack cocaine – drugs worth just under £2,000.

Cable’s involvement became clear in August when messages on a seized computer linked him to drug supply. A subsequent raid at his Brynmawr address saw him admit to officers he had drugs in the property. Police found a 10g rock of cocaine on the floor and a hidden container under the floorboards stuffed with 240.79g of cocaine and scales.

Evans, of Coronation Crescent, Fochriw, admitted three counts of being concerned in the supply of cocaine, being concerned in the supply of cannabis, possession with intent to supply cannabis, and possession of criminal property. He was jailed for 45 months.

At a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Shomon Khan ruled that whilst Evans had benefited £54,487 from his crimes, he only had £2,700 in available assets. The judge ordered him to hand over that sum within three months – or face an additional four months behind bars.