Newport Drug Boss Jailed for Exploiting Teen in Crack Operation

A major drugs operation in Newport has been dismantled, with one of its key figures now behind bars. 🚔

Aquel Ali, 25, was sentenced to nine years and one month in prison after admitting to running a crack cocaine business that trafficked approximately 1kg of the class A drug throughout Newport over an eight-month period.

Newport Crown Court heard how Ali employed intimidation tactics while jointly managing the operation with Mohammed Abbas, also 25, who was sentenced to seven years and six months in January.

Clare Wilks, prosecuting, told the court: “Mr Ali was telling his associates that if they’re ignored his requests, he would send somebody around to smash their house up. It appears that threats of violence are often used in these cases.”

The court was told that Ali and Abbas held “management” roles in a gang that utilised drugs lines to distribute their product across Newport after cocaine was processed into crack cocaine.

Particularly concerning was the exploitation of a minor in their operation. “There was clear evidence of both defendants utilising a 16-year-old boy as a runner for them,” Miss Wilks said.

The pair discussed “sales and profits” via mobile phone messages, which were later uncovered by detectives, proving they were “running an operation beyond that of selling directly to users.”

The prosecution revealed that Ali had boasted about supplying people in London who were “pleased with the product.” The operation allegedly generated profits of around £3,500 a month.

Ali was eventually apprehended on January 2 this year on Eton Road in Newport, where officers found him carrying nine wraps of crack cocaine and cash. This came after police initially struggled to locate him following Abbas’s arrest last August.

Harry Baker, defending, stated that Ali had previously cared for his mother before her death and that “he is sorry for what he has done.”

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Carl Harrison highlighted the exploitation of a minor as a significant factor: “A serious aggravating feature of this case is that you and Mr Abbas used runners to supply the drugs to others and these included a 16-year-old child.”

Ali will serve half of his sentence before being released on licence.