Gwent Police drugs op success as man jailed for nine years (From South Wales Argus)

Gwent Police drugs op success as man jailed for nine years

12:50pm Friday 1st March 2013 in News By Ruth Mansfield

JAILED: Leonidha Rroshi was sentenced to nine years after pleading guilty to supplying heroin

A MAN who supplied heroin with a street value of £200,000 into Newport has been jailed for nine years.

Leonidha Rroshi, 33, of Crescent Road, north London, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court after pleading guilty to supplying heroin to Carl Matthews between September 1 and December 1, 2011.

Rroshi’s arrest came as part of a police investigation, Operation Hawkeye and the court heard Rroshi admitted supplying a total of 3.5kg of heroin.

He had also pleaded guilty to possession of heroin with intent to supply, at a magistrates court in London, following a separate incident on August 8 last year. This involved 5.75kg of heroin.

Prosecutor Hywel Hughes said that the role of the defendant in supplying toMatthews was identified by the 16 occasions when the two met in London or on the M4 at Reading or at Gordano Services.

He said on November 30, 2011, following a meeting at Gordano services, Matthews received four 0.5kg packages of heroin from the defendant.

The packages, which were wrapped in socks, were taken to Lysaght Avenue, Newport, where they were seized by police and found to have a street value of £200,000.

In relation to the offence of possession with intent to supply, the court heard police had been observing Crescent Road in north London on August 8 last year.

They saw the defendant drive to another address where he removed an item from a Peugeot.

Police stopped Rroshi and found two balls of heroin wrapped in socks, each weighing 250g. Heroin was also found in the flat at Crescent Road and in the Peugeot.

Representing Rroshi, Austin Stoton said before these offences Rroshi was a man of good character and said conspiracy to supply the drug must have been taking place in South Wales by some of the others before Rroshi got involved.

Rroshi was sentenced to nine years for each offence to be served concurrently. A Proceeds of Crime Act will be heard later.

● Matthews, 40, of Gaskell Street, Newport, was jailed for eight years in January after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs. He was one of nine others previously sen

Call led to major investigation

DETECTIVE Constable Paul Jones, who was the officer in the case, said: “We welcome today’s sentence, which sends a clear message to those involved in importing and supplying the harmful drugs which do so much damage in our communities.

“While our work mainly involves prosecuting people in the South Wales area, on this occasion, and working with partners from the Met and other agencies, we have managed to secure the prosecution of an importer and supplier of drugs.” Detective Inspector Matt Sedgebeer added: “The prosecution has been made possible by the hard work of officers and I pay tribute to their dedication.

“But I must thank members of the public who alerted us to the activities of lower-level drug dealers in their area.

“The initial call we received led to a major investigation which has resulted in the last of those arrested as part of Operation Hawkeye being sentenced.”