Two Swansea brothers were at the head of an organised crime group which was trafficking large quantities of cocaine from the West Midlands to south west Wales, a court has heard. The gang used safe houses and lock-up garages around Swansea and Skewen as operational bases where they stored and processed the coke before distributing it on the streets.
Swansea Crown Court heard the crime group was taken down thanks to an investigation codenamed Operation Bluebird which included carrying out covert surveillance and trailing of suspected gang members. One of the siblings running the gang was arrested in the barber’s chair while he was having facial hair shaved off in a bid to change his appearance. Police seized cocaine worth around half a million pounds during the operation along with a sawn-off shotgun. Seven members of the crime syndicate have been sent down for more a total of more than 58 years.
Roger Griffiths, prosecuting, told the court that Operation Bluebird began in October 2022 and detectives were able to establish that siblings Ryan and Leon Morgan were at the head of a conspiracy to ship cocaine in multiple-kilo quantities from the English Midlands into Swansea. The brothers were said to have “no obvious legitimate forms of employment to maintain their lifestyles”. The police tracked movements of individuals linked to the brothers and covert surveillance was then set up at a number of domestic garages including ones on New Road in Skewen and Penbryn Terrace in Brynmill in Swansea, as well as at a lock-up unit on Grandison Street in Hafod in Swansea.
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The court heard officers observed gang members coming and going from the addresses and it emerged the garages were used for “receiving, processing and storing” drugs. The prosecutor said Operation Bluebird also established that the Swansea gang was in contact with organised crime groups operating in the Midlands, and that police were able to track the movements of cars and people between Swansea and the Midlands as well as trips to Newport for meetings between those involved in the cross-border trafficking. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here
The court heard that on July 13, 2023, police tracked the movements of a recovery vehicle being driven by Nicky Davies as it made its way from Swansea to an Asda supermarket car park in Coventry where Gino Shergill was waiting. A car was loaded onto the back of the truck and Davies then returned to south Wales. The court heard police had been “observing the journey from start to finish” and intercepted the transporter in Bonymaen in Swansea. In the car on the back of the recovery vehicle police found 7kg of high-purity cocaine.
The prosecutor said “word got out very quickly” that Davies had been arrested and offices then began executing search warrants at target houses and garages and making arrests of gang members. The court heard that in December police tried to arrest Ryan Morgan in the Hafod area of Swansea but he escaped after ramming police vehicles with his Range Rover, the 4×4 mounting the bonnet of one of the cop cars as he made good his escape. The gang boss was subsequently arrested in a barber’s shop where he was trying to change his appearance by having facial hair shaved off.
The court heard that during the course of the investigation – which was led by Tarian the southern Wales organised crime squad – more than eight kilos of high purity cocaine with an estimated street value of £500,000 was recovered along with some 18 kilos of the cutting agent benzocaine, a hydraulic press and other drug paraphernalia, cash, and a shotgun with “a significant number” of cartridges. The court heard there were no charges before the court relating to the firearm due to “evidential issues”.
The prosecutor said it was the crown’s case that the Morgan brothers were at the head of the organised crime group and played a leading role in conspiracy with Saunders assisting in repackaging drugs as required and Tomkins acting as a courier while Peters provided the recovery truck for the trip to Coventry and acted as “conduit for information”. He said Davies had driven the recovery truck and Shergill had handed over the car in the Asda car park and they had played lesser roles.
Leon Morgan -Credit:Tarian
Ryan Morgan -Credit:Tarian
Thomas Saunders -Credit:Tarian
Jack Tomkins -Credit:Tarian
Kenny Peters -Credit:Tarian
Nicky Davies -Credit:Tarian
Gino Shergill -Credit:Tarian
Ryan Morgan, aged 32, of Clwyd Road, Penlan, Swansea; Leon Morgan, aged 27, of Y Llanerch, Pontlliw, Swansea; Thomas Saunders, aged 23, of Eigin Cresceent, Mayhill, Swansea; Jack Tomkins. aged 24, of Elan Avenue, Clase, Swansea; Gino Shergill, aged 32, from Romford Road, Coventry; Kenny Peters, aged 44, of no fixed abode; and 35-year-old Nicky Davies of Pentregethin Road, Ravenhill, Swansea had all previously pleaded guilty to or been convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine when they returned to the dock for sentencing. The Morgan siblings had also pleaded guilty to money laundering and Ryan Morgan had also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.
Neither Leon Morgan nor Jack Tomkins have any previous convictions. Ryan Morgan has 16 previous convictions for 40 offences including possession of cocaine with intent to supply from July 2020 for which he was sentenced to 40 months in prison. That conviction came after plain clothes police followed and then swooped on a Land Rover in the Uplands area of Swansea and found Morgan and fellow dealer Joshua Dennis with £13,000 worth of cocaine. Saunders has a previous conviction for being concerned in the supply of cocaine from 2020 for which he received a suspended sentence. Peters has 24 previous offences for 75 offences though none of these are drug related. In 2019 Peters and Ryan Morgan were jailed for handling stolen goods. That conviction followed the theft of a sporty BMW 320 car during a burglary in Baglan – police located the stolen Beamer in Neath and kept it under surveillance until it was collected and driven away, at which point they moved in.
James Hartson, for Peters, said his client’s involvement was limited to providing the recovery truck for the trip to Coventry in return for “a small sum of money”. The barrister said it was accepted the defendant knew that the truck was going to be used to transport drugs back to Swansea though was unware of the quantity being shipped, and he said while Peters “is not a naïve man” none of his previous convictions were related to drugs.
Matthew Roberts, for Davies, said his client “regrets becoming involved in something he should not have become involved in” and said references submitted to the court show a different side to the man.
Shahid Rashid, for Tompkins, said in conspiracies “people come and go” during the period of the offending and he said his client became involved in the latter stages of this particular conspiracy. He said the defendant’s role was that of a courier delivering cash and drugs to the lock-ups under the direction of others. He said Tompkins was “truly sorry” for what he had done and had asked him to apologise to his family.
Andrew Evans, for Saunders, said his client was a young man “with potential and promise” in his life and said references speak of a very different man to the one the court had heard about.
Ian Ibrahim, for Shergill, said his client was in the business of buying and selling dilapidated cars, and said his only contact with the organised crime group was to deliver a car to the Asda supermarket in Coventry where he handed it to Davies – something which the barrister said had “destroyed his life”. He added that his his client “is about as remorseful as one can be”.
Ryan Morgan was sentenced to 16 years in prison; Leon Morgan to 10 years; Saunders to seven years and 10 months; Tomkins to seven years and one month; Shergill to five years years and 10 months; Peters to six-and-a-half years and Davies to five years and two months. The court heard that investigations into the finances of the Morgan brothers would be carried out, and serious crime prevention orders would be sought against the siblings.
Speaking after the sentencing detective inspector Vinnie Easton of Tarian said: “We welcome the sentences given to these men for their roles in selling very significant amounts of Class A drugs in south Wales. This thorough investigation uncovered a major drug conspiracy and is a great example of the detailed work carried out to combat organised crime of this nature. Illegal drugs have no place in our society, and the offenders in this operation were part of an organised criminal gang who brought harm and misery to our neighbourhoods through the supply of drugs.”
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