A DRUG dealer was caught surrounded with bags of cocaine and more than £1,000 in cash when police raided his home.

Police launched a drugs raid at an address on Heol Y Garreg Las in Llandeilo on May 3. Inside, Richard Thomas was sat next to two bags of cocaine – totalling six grams and worth up to £800.

Thomas also had £860 in cash next to him, and £335 out on the living room table.

“He said he was only at the address as he was meeting someone to buy a car, which was why he had the cash,” prosecutor Sian Cutter said. He claimed the drugs were for his personal use.

His phone was seized, and it was later found that messages showed he had been dealing cocaine and cannabis back to August 2022.

One of the messages showed Thomas buying 4.5 ounces of cocaine for £4,200 which he could then sell on to street-level dealers.

Thomas was arrested after the raid, but was released under investigation.

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At just before 9pm on June 13, police stopped a car driving on Pontamman Road in Ammanford. There was three people inside – one of whom was Thomas.

The officers saw remnants of white powder and a stun gun in the car, so asked the occupants to step out of the car.

As the vehicle was searched, the officers noticed Thomas fiddling with his waistband and underwear. They discovered he had discarded a bag of 28.7 grams of cocaine – worth a potential £3,600 – behind him.

Thomas also had a phone on him, which revealed he had resumed dealing just weeks after he had been released under investigation for the previous offences.

Matthew Murphy, in mitigation, admitted Thomas’ record of one previous conviction for drink driving was “fairly innocuous” compared to the charges he now faced – all of which Thomas accepted.

He said Thomas, 42, now of Bryncethin Road in Garnant, had served in the army, and after he returned to work in heavy industry suffered multiple industrial accidents.

The defendant became involved in a holiday let business, and during the start-up period “took no money”, Mr Murphy said. The financial pressures and stress of this led to him “spiralling” and using illicit drugs.

“His offending was to feed his own habit,” the defence barrister added.

Judge Paul Thomas jailed the defendant for a total of five and a half years.

This includes three years – running concurrently – for both possession with intent to supply cocaine and being concerned in the supply of cocaine. He received a two-and-a-half year consecutive sentence for the second possession with intent to supply cocaine charge, and 12 months – running concurrently – for being concerned in the supply of cannabis.