Urszula Glowacka (Image: Tarian)
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A woman who made more than £867,000 from a class A drugs operation spanning south Wales and the south-west of England has been told to hand over a nominal £1, after a court found she has no assets left to recover.
The confiscation hearing
Urszula Glowacka, 42, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing, which looks at how much a defendant gained from crime and what can be taken back.
The court heard her offending had brought her a benefit of £867,689, but that none of it is available to seize.
Judge Paul Hobson made a nominal order of £1, to be paid within seven days. If she fails to pay, she faces one more day in custody.
How the network operated
Glowacka was part of an organised crime group found to have supplied cocaine, crack cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine and ketamine worth more than £3.5m.
She and co-defendant Pawel Kobis, 46, took their instructions from a supplier higher up the chain, who used a number of different names, including “X”, “Extra”, “Ev” and “Everest”. Under that direction, the pair collected large amounts of drugs and moved them on across the UK.
Three couriers – Jamie Davies, 29, and brothers Aleksander Lala, 30, and Nazif Lala, 25 – delivered the drugs to what was described as a wide network of customers.
When officers executed warrants at the defendants’ homes, they recovered substantial amounts of drugs along with mobile phones.
The sentences
All five admitted their roles and were jailed for a combined total of 41 years at a hearing earlier this year:
- Urszula Glowacka, of Abertillery, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine and ketamine – nine years and four months
- Aleksander Lala, of Oxford, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and crack cocaine – nine years and four months
- Pawel Kobis, of Abertillery, admitted conspiracy to supply crack cocaine – eight years and eight months
- Nazif Lala, of Oxford, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and crack cocaine – eight years
- Jamie Davies, of Begbroke, Oxfordshire, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine and ketamine – five years and eight months
What investigators said
Speaking after the sentencing hearing, Detective Sergeant Amy Podmore, of Tarian Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: “This was a complex investigation into an organised crime group operating across a wide geographical area.
“These individuals acted of their own free will distributing wholesale quantities of drugs over significant distances for financial gain with no regard for the harm caused to our communities.
“The sentences reflect the seriousness of these offences and should serve as a warning to others.”
