Drugs gang jailed for 27 years

Members of the ring were jailed for a total of 27 years

A drugs gang run by a seemingly respectable businessman has been jailed for a total of 27 years for running a £1m operation under the cover of his furniture company.

Furniture shop owner Anthony Slatter, 37, appeared "well-to-do" to his customers - and splashed out on a £3,000 hospitality suite during the Rugby World Cup to entertain his friends.

But Slatter's Leather Emporium business was a front to run his network of drug dealers.

He was jailed for seven-and-a-half years at Cardiff Crown Court - and four other members of his gang were also sentenced to a total of 20 years for their part in the ring.

A judge also ordered the confiscation of £18,000 savings plus his BMW car.

'Well-to-do businessman'

Cardiff Crown Court heard Slatter used his income from the drugs ring to fund his impressive lifestyle.

Prosecutor Gregg Taylor QC told the court how Slatter flooded south Wales with ecstasy and amphetamines with an estimated street value of more than £1m.

"His house, cars and motorbike gave the impression of being a well-to-do businessman," the court heard.

"He spent £3,000 on a hospitality suite at the Rugby World Cup and entertained his friends.

"The money he was able to amass came from drugs," he said.

10,000 ecstasy pills

Slatter used the Leather Emporium in Blackwood in south Wales as a front for the operation.

The drugs ring was smashed after police began monitoring them - and seized drugs with a street value of £250,000.

Drugs courier Steve Jones, 23, was arrested when police seized more than a kilo of amphetamine, three kilos of cannabis resin, and 10,000 ecstasy pills from his car.

He spent £3,000 on a hospitality suite at the Rugby World Cup and entertained his friends

Greg Taylor QC, prosecuting

Robert Israel, 32, who was also working for Slatter by making sofas, was arrested at his home.

Other gang members Kristian Griffiths, 22, and Keith Walker, 24, had been arrested a week earlier.

Slatter, of Bargoed, Rhymney Valley, Jones, of Tonypandy, Rhondda, and Israel, of Llwynypia, Rhondda, all admitted conspiracy to supply ecstasy, conspiracy to supply amphetamine and conspiracy to supply cannabis.

Jones was jailed for three years and Israel for five-and-a-half years.

Griffiths, of Ystrad, Rhondda, admitted conspiracy to supply ecstasy and conspiracy to supply cannabis. He was jailed for six years.

Walker, also of Ystrad, admitted conspiracy to supply ecstasy and was given a five-and-a-half year sentence.

'Seduced by others'

Tom Crowther QC, defending father-of-two Slatter said: "He was until his involvement in these matters respectable.

"He had a trade and supported his wife and their two young children. He was a recreational drug user and he was seduced by others into this world.

"He found initially the glory of it to be attractive as well as the financial reward."

Judge Peter Jacobs praised the south Wales drug squad for cracking the operation - despite having limited resources.

He told Slatter: "I'm satisfied that drugs were exchanged from the Leather Emporium. The result was to release drugs into the south Wales valleys.

"Drugs are targeted at some of the most deprived areas of south Wales. They bring ill health, crime and death," he said.