A lottery ticket helped to catch a cocaine dealer who claimed the tens of thousands of pounds he was making was down to selling Turkish cigarettes, a court has heard. Lee Gallagher claimed he’d been travelling to Turkey and bringing back quantities of tobacco which he was selling before transferring the profits to someone in Birmingham – but phone evidence revealed the true source of the cash.
Swansea Crown Court heard that an investigation into Gallagher led police to one of his associates who was running a “mobile shop” offering cannabis, ketamine and LSD as well as coke to customers. The two dealers, and the man from the West Midlands who was receiving the drug money, have all been jailed. Sending them down, the judge described dealing Class A drugs as a “wicked” trade that blights communities.
The case is the latest example of drug dealing in the seaside town of Aberystwyth. Last month a dozen members of an organised crime group which flooded Aberystwyth with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of cocaine were jailed. The gang’s operation involved car washes and barbers shops being used as “front” businesses, trusted operatives being “embedded” in the town, and asylum seekers being trafficked into mid Wales to act as couriers and dealers.
Matt Murphy, prosecuting, told the court that in March 2021 police arrested Gallagher at his home in Aberystwyth following an investigation into large amounts of money which had been going into and out of his bank account. Officers seized his phone, two small snap-seal bags of cocaine, and a set of weighing scales with traces of white powder. The court heard that between April 2019 and October 2020 more than £44,000 in unexplained payments had been transferred to a bank account held in Birmingham while thousands of pounds had flowed the other way. The Birmingham account turned out to be owned by a man called Omar Yafari.
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Gallagher told officers the transfers of money were in relation to him buying and selling cigarettes. The defendant told police Yafari would send him money which he would use to travel to Turkey and buy cigarettes; he said he would then sell the tobacco in Aberystwyth before sending the profits back to Birmingham. Gallagher’s phone was seized and he was released under investigation while the mobile was downloaded and examined.
The court heard that the examination of Gallagher’s phone showed his involvement in selling cocaine and in particular his connection with a teenage dealer by the name of Ethan Bablak-Land. Officers conducted arrest enquiries for the teen and found him in Aberystwyth town centre on New Year’s Eve. When searched he was found with bags of cocaine, scales and cash. The court heard Gallagher’s DNA was found on the outside of the coke deals.
Messages subsequently found on the teenager’s phone showed communication between him and Gallagher about cocaine including discussions about quality and price, and requests from Bablak-Land to have coke “on tick” for onward sale. Also on the phone was a picture of weighing scales measuring out 7g of cocaine. The court heard the picture also showed an Irish lottery ticket which checks showed had been purchased by Gallagher from Corbett bookmakers in Aberystwyth on December 22. The court heard other messages found on Bablak-Land’s phone showed he was also involved in supplying ketamine and cannabis and had been offering to supply LSD.
Gallagher was arrested again and denied knowing Bablak-Land. He said he had lost his phone and suggested Bablak-Land must have sent the messages to himself in order to set him up. The court heard CCTV footage subsequently recovered by police showed the two defendants together in Aberystwyth. When Yafari was interviewed he said Gallagher was a relative of his, and initially claimed that Gallagher had gone to Turkey to get his teeth done. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here
Ethan Bablak-Land, now aged 20, of Cryfryn Row, Aberystwyth, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, being concerned in the supply of cocaine, being concerned in the supply of ketamine, being concerned in the supply of cannabis, and offering to supply LSD when he returned to the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.
Gallagher, 37, of Penmaesglas Road in Aberystwyth, had previously been convicted at trial of conspiracy to supply cocaine and being concerned in the supply of cocaine when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 30 previous convictions for 43 offences “of a varied nature” including sexual offences, public disorder, and violence matters. Omar Yafari, 36, of Camelot Way, Birmingham, had previously been convicted at trial of acquiring criminal property – money – when he appeared in the dock alongside the other defendants. He has four previous convictions for five offences including public disorder and criminal damage. At trial Gallaher and Yafari had maintained the Turkish cigarette story.
Ieuan Rees, for Bablak-Land, said the defendant was aged just 17 when he first become involved in dealing and said like many people before him his client started to deal in order to fund his own habit. He said Bablak-Land had now “broken with old associates” and he said it was the defendant’s intention to “pursue a trade and become a productive member of society” when he is released from custody. Lewis Perry, for Gallagher, said the defendant maintained the position he held at trial that he was simply involved in buying and selling tobacco and was not involved in the supply of controlled drugs. He said the defendant’s life had taken a “downward spiral” following the death of his mother and he suffered with severe anxiety and depression. David Singh, for Yafari, said there was no suggestion his client was aware of what the other defendants were doing in Aberystwyth.
Judge Geraint Walters said Class A drugs were a “blight” on Aberystwyth, and said information from the police suggested it was predominantly people who had moved to the town “looking for a better life” who were the primary consumers. He described the trade in Class A drugs as “wicked” and said LSD was not a drug one hears much about these days, though “it seems fashionable in Aberystwyth”. He said Bablak-Land had been operating “something of a mobile shop” for drugs, and said the jury had rejected Gallagher and Yafari’s “cigarette sales story”.
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas, Bablak-Land was sentenced to two years detention in a young offenders institution. Gallagher and Yafari, who were convicted at trial and therefore had no reduction in sentence for guilty pleas, were sentenced to three years and to two years respectively in prison. The defendants will serve no more than half their sentences in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Dyfed-Powys Police were unable to provide a custody picture of Yafari
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