Drugs boss made £450k but ordered to pay back just £4,356

A drugs boss who made nearly half a million pounds selling cocaine and cannabis across South Wales has been ordered to hand over a fraction of his profits.

Ben Wong, 32, from Abertillery, was locked up for more than eight years in November 2024 after he and his gang were caught by Gwent Police. A proceeds of crime hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard that Wong had profited by £450,690.77 from his illegal operation, but he has just £4,356.74 in available assets which can be seized by the authorities.

Wong has three months to hand over the cash or face an extra three months in prison.

When Wong and his gang were sentenced, Cardiff Crown Court heard that he was the leader and his 43-year-old friend Nigel Gravenor acted as his “enforcer”. Three other men – Adam Brimble, 41, Gareth Powell, 38, and Cameron Lawson-Coles, 23 – were recruited by Wong to work as couriers, custodians and runners.

Nigel Fryer, prosecuting, told the court: “This defendant sold commercial quantities of cocaine and cannabis. Wong created a small network below him with couriers, custodians, enforcers and runners. The defendant had a dedicated drugs line and was selling to end users in Blaenau Gwent and Bristol. On occasions, intimidation was deployed to recover debts.”

Police recovered evidence of a phone message from Gravenor using threats of violence when trying to collect a drug debt. It read: “Frog, sort the money or you are having a punch.”

Brimble, a hospital porter at the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran, was the gang’s “jack of all trades”.

It was a catastrophic mistake by Powell which triggered the investigation into the gang’s downfall. He left a Facebook page open containing drug-related messages after returning a work laptop to his former employers when he lost his job. The HR department contacted the police.

Lawson-Coles worked as a courier and made runs to Bristol.

Judge Lucy Crowther told Wong: “You were at the top of the business. Your behaviour was driven by your additions to drugs, alcohol and gambling.”

Wong, of Andrews Terrace, Llanhilleth was jailed for eight years and four months for conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply cannabis.

Gravenor, of Alexandra Road, Six Bells, Abertillery was sent to prison for 33 months for conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Brimble, of Cwm Cottage Road, Abertillery was jailed for two years, suspended for 21 months, for being concerned in the supply of cocaine.

Powell, of Attlee Avenue, Abertillery was sent to prison for 22 months, suspended for 21 months, for being concerned in the supply of cocaine and conspiracy to supply cannabis.

Lawson-Coles, of Hill Crest View, Cwmtillery, Abertillery was jailed for six months, suspended for 12 months, for conspiracy to supply cannabis.

After sentence, PC Owen Furlong, the officer in the case, said: “The principal organised crime member, Ben Wong, preyed on and took advantage of the vulnerabilities of others while boasting about claiming benefits and not needing to work.”