Drug dealer ordered to pay back £6k from £100k cocaine profits

A Newport drug dealer who profited over £100,000 from selling cocaine has been ordered to pay back less than £6,000 under proceeds of crime laws.

Gareth Hall, 27, was part of a gang that used a drugs line to sell around 1kg of cocaine across Newport, Cwmbran and Pontypool between September 2023 and July 2024. He was jailed for six years in March after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply the class A drug.

At Newport Crown Court, prosecutor Joshua Scouller revealed Hall profited by £106,626.82 but has only £5,988.50 in available assets that can be seized by police. The Mill Heath, Bettws resident has three months to hand over the cash or face an extra four months in prison.

Hall was sentenced alongside fellow gang members Declan Carr, 27, of Hendre Farm Drive, Newport (four years) and Callum Nocivelli, 25, of Ogmore Crescent, Bettws, Newport (four years and eight months). Both are yet to face their proceeds of crime hearings.

The court heard Nocivelli was the gang’s “manager” who looked after the drugs line, Hall topped up the pay-as-you-go mobile phones used, while Carr acted as the gang’s runner. 📱

Judge Daniel Williams previously told the defendants: “You went into this with your eyes open. You realised you were playing for big stakes – and you lost.”

PC Matthew Tucker said: “The evidence we gathered showed clearly that the two mobile phone numbers associated with this organised crime group had a plethora of text messages connected to the sale of cocaine. We identified Nocivelli as having a leading role in managing this illegal drugs operation.”

He added: “Hall was also a significant member and Carr was dispatched as a runner to carry out the deals. With overwhelming evidence against them, all three defendants had little option but to plead guilty to the charges they faced in court.”

Anyone with concerns over illegal drugs can contact Gwent Police via their website, by calling 101 or on social media.