Man jailed over plot to smuggle drugs inside rope to New Zealand

Man jailed over plot to smuggle drugs inside rope to New Zealand

Gavin Smith was sentenced to six years and nine months after being caught plotting to smuggle drugs from Wales to New Zealand

A man living in a caravan worked with a shadowy contact known only as 'The Baron' to send kilos of cocaine and ketamine concealed inside hollowed-out rope to the other side of the world.

Gavin Smith, 44, of Swansea Road, Pontlliw, in Swansea, was drawn into a scheme to smuggle drugs from Wales to New Zealand.

The operation came to light after South Wales Police arrested Smith on unrelated matters and discovered the unit on an industrial estate from which he was operating a cannabis-dealing business.

He was jailed for six years and nine months.

Ian Wright, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court - which was sitting remotely at Cardiff Magistrates' Court - that officers went to Smith's caravan on 28 March to arrest him on unrelated matters.

In the caravan, Wright said, police found a vacuum-packed bag containing a kilo of cannabis, together with quantities of ketamine, cocaine and psilocybin - the active ingredient in magic mushrooms.

Also found in the caravan were digital weighing scales, a coffee grinder containing white powder used to cut drugs, a drug press concealed under a bed and coffee pods that appeared to be intended for storing drugs.

The court heard officers retrieved Smith's phone from the microwave in the caravan and gained access to his communications on the encrypted Signal app.

Officers found messages showing Smith had been involved in dealing cannabis in half-kilo amounts for the past 10 years.

The phone also contained information that led officers to a storage unit rented by Smith in an industrial park.

Inside the unit, officers found cardboard boxes marked with different strains of cannabis. Altogether, the boxes held 15 vacuum-sealed bags containing 1lb of cannabis.

Police also recovered £678 in cash and a notebook containing what appeared to be 12 random words.

The court heard these words were actually cryptocurrency recovery seed phrases, which allowed officers to access Smith's crypto wallet, found to contain £5,763.

Wright said police also uncovered a large number of messages Smith had exchanged on Signal with a contact known as 'The Baron', who appeared to live in New Zealand.

In the messages, Smith, a former plumber, said he could supply ketamine to 'The Baron' at £2,000 per kilo.

'The Baron' suggested the drug could be smuggled into the country inside shipments of rope, and told Smith to hollow out the core of lengths of rope and then use an air compressor to force the ketamine inside, before sealing the rope in bags with a vacuum sealer.

Smith told 'The Baron' that if the plan worked he had a contact who could supply him with five or six kilos of ketamine a week.

The court heard 'The Baron' asked Smith for the details of his crypto wallet. On 1 April, he messaged Smith again to say the shipment of rope had arrived safely in New Zealand.

Wright said the pair then started discussing using the same rope method to ship cocaine, with 'The Baron' telling Smith he had a contact in Manchester who could supply the drug.

A price of £4,000 was agreed for each kilo of cocaine packaged and sent. The pair discussed sending an initial two kilos a week, with the shipments rising to four kilos a week if the shipping method proved successful.

In one exchange, also in April, the court heard, 'The Baron' told the defendant the cocaine would be delivered to him in three days. Smith replied that he was ready but needed to buy a new shrink wrap heater.

The court was told there was no evidence Smith actually sent any cocaine to New Zealand as discussed.

Smith had previously pleaded guilty to: conspiracy to export ketamine, conspiracy to export cocaine, being concerned in the supply of cannabis, possession of cannabis with intent to supply, possession of ketamine with intent to supply, simple possession of cocaine, simple possession of psilocybin and two counts of possession of criminal property - one relating to the cash and one to the contents of the crypto wallet.

He has four previous convictions for six offences, including violent disorder and producing cannabis.

Hywel Davies, defending, said Smith had mainly been involved in supplying Class B drugs, apart from a "brief excursion" into Class A drugs - about which, Davies said, it was clear from the message exchanges that Smith had been "apprehensive".

Davies said Smith was remorseful about the effect his offending would have on his family, and that the prospect of being separated from his children for a significant period was causing him considerable distress.

He said that once Smith had served his sentence, he wanted to return to plumbing.

The court heard that a proceeds of crime investigation would now be launched into Smith's finances.