A DRUG trafficker busted by police after he had just spent £9,000 buying cocaine in a deal was jailed for four years.

Rhys Lovett and his driver were caught red-handed with a block of “high purity” powder.

Newport Crown Court heard how this was his second recent conviction for possessing cocaine with intent to supply.

Lovett, 26, of The Highway, New Inn, Pontypool, was sent to prison for 10 months last year.

The court heard he claimed to have a £300 a day cocaine habit.

Prosecutor Nuhu Gobir said the defendant and his driver Jack Walker, 22, were caught after a tip-off to police on August 16 as they drove along the A4042 road near the New Inn roundabout in the early hours of the morning.

The latter was at the wheel of a Vauxhall Astra which was stopped and searched but no trace of drugs were uncovered in the car, although weighing scales were found in the glove compartment.

Mr Gobir said that when Lovett was placed inside a police vehicle he confessed to officers that he had hidden cocaine in his underwear and it was found that he had drug-related texts on his mobile phone.

The seized drugs weighed 248 grammes and had a purity of 86%.

The court heard Lovett was candid in his police interview and told them he had made similar drug deals.

Mr Gobir added that Walker had refused to give police the PIN number of his iPhone and told detectives he was paid £10 to give Lovett a lift.

He also admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply.

Walker, of The Ellipse, Sebastopol, Pontypool, was handed a prison sentence of 20 months, suspended for two years, a curfew and 200 hours of unpaid work.

Gareth Williams, representing father Lovett, said the best mitigation he could put forward was that he had tendered an early guilty plea.

Stephen Thomas, for Walker, said his client, who has a baby son, was a man of previous clean character and was trying to address his drug addiction.

Sentencing the pair, Judge Neil Bidder QC told them that by dealing drugs they were caught up in an “appalling trade”.

He said: “The abuse of drugs causes very rapid addiction, it causes degradation and it causes a huge amount of crime.”

Speaking about his experience as both a barrister and judge, he added: “It causes death and it breaks up families.”

Both defendants must also pay a victim surcharge.

The court heard they will also both be subject to a Proceeds of Crime Act application.