Nine people have been jailed for more than 45 years for their part in a major drugs network which operated from Ely, Cardiff.

They were arrested following an investigation by the Cardiff and Vale Organised Crime Unit, of South Wales Police, as part of Operation Sittella.

The group – led by Ricardo Brown – ran the ‘MJ’ drug line which recruited teenagers and young adults as runners, often riding e-bikes to deliver drugs and collect cash.

Officers gathered a mountain of evidence which including videos and photographs of its members ‘cooking’ crack cocaine, weighing drugs, and holding large sums of money.

One image, taken from social media, included three members of the group – Brown, Levi Robson, and Jaydon Watkins – posing in a rented Lamborghini.

Further images demonstrated that Brown was generating an enormous amount of cash and living an extravagant lifestyle.

A thorough investigation and the overwhelming evidence resulted in all nine members pleading guilty to multiple drugs offences.

Their arrests in December 2024 brought an end to the MJ drugs line which is estimated to have been in operation since 2020 mainly in Cardiff, but also other areas of South Wales.

Ricardo Brown and his accomplices were sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday, January 21 and Friday, January 22.

The court heard that the death of an inexperienced drug user was directly attributable to the MJ line.

In June 2020 a customer, who had never tried heroin before, contacted the MJ line, and purchased heroin. Within 48 hours she had died, the cause of death was recorded as ‘mixed drug toxicity, including heroin.’

The group were sentenced as follows:

• Ricardo Brown, 26, of Butetown, was the leader of the organised crime group for four years. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class A drugs and was jailed for 12 years and five months.
• Dylan Stanger, 25, of Barry, who was Brown’s right-hand man, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class A drugs and conspiring with others to be concerned in the supply of class B drug, and was jailed for seven years and nine months.
• Jaydon Watkins, of Ely, who operated a cannabis supply line linked to the group pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class A drugs and conspiring with others to be concerned in the supply of class B drug. Three years.
• Sam Hatton, 18, of Ely, was a runner and street-level dealer for the group. He parted company with the MJ line to set up his own drug line and pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class A drugs, conspiring with others to be concerned in the supply of class B drugs, and being concerned in the supply of cocaine. He was jailed for five years.
• Levi Robson, 24, of Ely, managed drug supply and directed runners. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class A drugs and was jailed for three years and six months.
• Ieuan Coombes, 21, of Ely, who was involved in the distribution of drugs beyond Cardiff and pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class A drugs and being concerned in the supply of cocaine, was jailed for three years and eight months.
• Lewis Adams, 27, of Barry, supplied wholesale quantities of cocaine and supported the wider supply chain – he pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class A drugs and was jailed for four years and five months.
• Thomas Haysham, 25, of Barry, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class A drugs and conspiring with others to be concerned in the supply of class B drug and was jailed for five years and ten months.
• Stacey Cassemis, 37, from Ely, who allowed the group to use her home as a base for the preparation and cooking of crack cocaine and is where officers found a kilogram block of cocaine received a two-year suspended prison sentence.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Tim Jones, from South Wales Police, said: “This was a highly organised criminal operation with clear leadership and defined roles, driven entirely by profit and complete disregard for the harm caused to others.

“Ricardo Brown and his accomplices were behind the supply of significant amounts of class A and Class B drugs.

“What makes their offences even worse is their exploitation of children – they didn’t think twice about putting them in danger and at serious risk, for their own greed and profit.

“The sad reality is that the exploitation of young children by drugs gangs is common practice – dealers will identify the most vulnerable in our communities and put them in harm’s way while running things in the background.

“This is happening today, in communities across south Wales, and we all have a responsibility and a moral obligation to look for the signs of exploitation and act on them.

“In doing so, we are putting the dealers behind bars but also rescuing and safeguarding children who for whatever reason have found themselves in the grip of what is a miserable and dangerous existence at the hands of criminals.”