Ryan Tucker (Image: South Wales Police)
Last Updated: 4 minutes ago
A 27-year-old man has been sentenced to five years in prison after admitting he ran his own drug supply network from the same property where his older brother was already dealing cocaine.
Ryan Tucker, of Gwyn Terrace, Port Talbot, pleaded guilty at Swansea Crown Court to being concerned in the supply of cocaine, amphetamine, and cannabis.
Boxing Day crash
On Boxing Day last year, police were called to reports of a crashed and damaged VW Golf in Port Talbot. When officers reached the scene, they found Tucker at the wheel of the vehicle “covered in cocaine”.
A search of the car uncovered almost 40g of cocaine and almost 100g of cannabis. Tucker was taken to hospital and placed in a medically induced coma for a period.
His phone was seized and officers found multiple Snapchat conversations between Tucker and others about the buying and selling of cocaine and cannabis.
The initial police operation
The investigation into Tucker began months earlier, on 29 August 2024, when officers operating in Port Talbot town centre witnessed what they believed to be a drugs exchange taking place on Gwyn Terrace.
Prosecutor Georgia Donohue told the court one of the males involved – later identified as the defendant’s brother Nathan Tucker – was seen running to a nearby property. Officers decided to search the house and arrested Nathan Tucker. While the search was under way, Ryan Tucker returned to the family home.
Nathan Tucker was sentenced in October 2024 to six years and eight months in prison for being concerned in the supply of cocaine. During that earlier search, officers had discovered a machete behind a sofa, tubs of benzocaine – a common cutting agent used in drug deals – sets of weighing scales, and a parcel on top of a wardrobe containing a one-kilo block of compressed cocaine sent Special Delivery from Liverpool the previous day.
Phone evidence
Ms Donohue said the prosecution case was that Ryan Tucker had his own drug supply operation, separate from his brother’s.
On 7 September, police returned to the family home to arrest Ryan Tucker, seizing his phone and £3,125 in cash. Tucker refused to reveal the PIN for his phone and claimed the money was from the sale of cars. He answered “no comment” to all questions and was released under investigation.
Despite his refusal, officers gained access to the device and found messages relating to the supply of cocaine and amphetamine across a range of deal sizes over the previous 12 months. In some messages, Tucker referred to selling cocaine on behalf of Scousers and to owing money to the Merseysiders.
Defence arguments
Caitlin Brazel, for Tucker, said it was clear from her conference with the defendant that “he now appreciates the enormity of what he had done” and understood he faced a significant custodial sentence. She said Tucker had a “rather unstable upbringing” and that after the loss of a brother in 2020 his life went on a “downward spiral” which saw him “battling nightmares, addiction, and mental health issues”.
Sentencing
Tucker has 23 previous convictions for 56 offences including violence, driving matters, acquisitive offending, and possession of cannabis.
Judge Geraint Walters said the evidence showed Tucker had been involved in distributing drugs for a Liverpool gang “in a not insignificant way” and that after being arrested and released under investigation, he had returned to dealing.
The judge told Tucker that as he approaches his 30th year, he needed to decide whether he was going to continue being “a nuisance” or try to turn his life around. He said Tucker could “put his follies of youth and offending” behind him, or continue on the path he was on – and that if he chose the latter, he may one day find his life has passed him by with little positive to show for it.
With discounts for his guilty pleas, Tucker was sentenced to five years in prison. He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
