A GWENT Valleys dealer was buying high purity cocaine from suppliers in Liverpool before selling it to a female drug dealer in Cardiff.

Damien Winnett, 28, was adulterating coke and washing it into crack cocaine to increase his profit margin.

The defendant, of Blaen Blodau Street, Newbridge, was involved in the buying and selling of at least £30,000 worth of the class A drug.

The defendant’s “leading role” in the drugs trade was exposed when Gwent Police officers raided an unrelated woman’s address last summer.

Peter Donnison, prosecuting, said detectives saw text messages from a phone they seized linking him to organised crime.

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He told Cardiff Crown Court: “They showed he was adulterating the drugs he was acquiring from Liverpool, allowing for larger profits.

“There was a reference to purchasing at least £16,000 worth of the drug in one transaction.”

They couldn’t find Winnett until he was arrested in Newbridge just before Christmas.

Mr Donnison said: “According to a police drugs expert, it is apparent that the defendant was in effect an upscale supplier cocaine supplier.

“The messages show he was able to source large amounts of the drug from wholesale upscale suppliers in Liverpool.

“The defendant said he purchased nine ounces of cocaine for £16,000 and on other occasion, four ounces at £6,000.

“The officer describes it as a sophisticated operation.”

He was committing the offence while he was subject to a suspended prison sentence for dangerous driving.  

Gareth Williams, representing the defendant, said: “The defendant wasn’t living a lavish lifestyle – he was living at home with his parents.

“He was one above a street dealer and he was providing her with drugs.”

His barrister added how his client’s best mitigation was his early guilty plea.

Judge Niclas Parry told Winnett: “You were acting as an upstream supplier to a female in the Cardiff area for a period of 18 months or so.

“You were the conduit when cocaine from the North West of England was arriving in South Wales.”

The judge added: “There was an expectation of significant financial gain.”

Winnett was jailed for four years and eight months and was told he would serve half that sentence in prison before being released.

The defendant, who pleaded guilty to supplying the class A drug, is due to face a proceeds of crime act hearing on July 4.