A lottery ticket helped catch a cocaine dealer who claimed tens of thousands of pounds of his winnings came from selling Turkish cigarettes, a court heard. Lee Gallagher claimed that he went to Turkey and brought back the amount of tobacco he had sold before transferring the profits to someone in Birmingham; However, phone evidence revealed the true source of the money.
Swansea Crown Court heard that the investigation into Gallagher led police to one of his colleagues who ran a “mobile shop” offering coke as well as cannabis, ketamine and LSD to customers. Two dealers and the West Midlands man who took the drug money have been jailed. The judge who sent them down said the Class A drug trade was an “evil” trade that was devastating communities.
The incident is the latest example of drug dealing in the seaside town of Aberystwyth. A dozen members of an organized crime group that funneled hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of cocaine into Aberystwyth last month have been jailed. The gang’s operation involved using car washes and barber shops as “front” businesses, “planting” trusted operators in the town and smuggling asylum seekers into Mid Wales to act as couriers and dealers.
Prosecutor Matt Murphy told the court police arrested Gallagher at his home in Aberystwyth in March 2021 following an investigation into large amounts of money moving in and out of his bank account. Officers seized his phone, two small bags of cocaine and a set of scales with traces of white powder. The court heard that between April 2019 and October 2020, more than £44,000 in unexplained payments were transferred to a bank account in Birmingham, while thousands of pounds flowed the other way. It turned out that the Birmingham account belonged to a man named Omar Yafari.
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Gallagher told officers the money transfers were related to his buying and selling of cigarettes. The defendant told the police that Yafari would send him money that he would use to travel to Turkey and buy cigarettes; He then said he would sell the tobacco in Aberystwyth before sending the profits to Birmingham. Gallagher’s phone was seized and he was released under investigation while his mobile phone was downloaded and examined.
The court heard an examination of Gallagher’s phone revealed his involvement in the sale of cocaine and, in particular, his involvement with a young dealer called Ethan Bablak-Land. Officers carried out an arrest investigation against the teenager and found him in Aberystwyth city center on New Year’s Eve. During the search, he was found with bags full of cocaine, scales and cash. The court heard Gallagher’s DNA was found outside the cocaine deals.
Messages later found on the teenager’s phone showed communications between him and Gallagher about cocaine, including discussions about quality and price and requests from Bablak-Land for the cola to be “approved” for onward sale. Also on the phone was a picture of a scale measuring 7 grams of cocaine. The court heard the photo also showed an Irish lottery ticket bought 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 the supply of ketamine and cannabis. He was offering to supply LSD.
Gallagher was arrested again and denied knowing the Land of Bablak. He said he lost his phone and suggested Bablak-Land might have sent him the messages to set him up. The court heard CCTV footage later seized by police which showed the two defendants together in Aberystwyth. When interviewed, Yafari said he was a relative of Gallagher and initially claimed that Gallagher had gone to Turkey to have his teeth fixed. For the latest court reports, sign up for our crime newsletter here
Ethan Bablak-Land, now 20, of Cryfryn Row, Aberystwyth, previously 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 criminal record.
Gallagher, 37, of Penmaesglas Road, Aberystwyth, was previously convicted 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 offenses of a “various nature”, including sexual offences, public disorder and violence. Omar Yafari, 36, of Camelot Way, Birmingham, was previously convicted in the criminal possession of property (cash) case when he appeared in the dock along with other defendants. He has four previous convictions for five offences, including disturbing public order and criminal damage. At the hearing, Gallaher and Yafari told the Turkish cigarette story.
Ieuan Rees, for Bablak-Land, said the defendant was only 17 when he first entered trading and, like many before him, his client started trading to fund his own habit. He said Bablak-Land had now “cut ties with its former partners” and that the defendant intended to “pursue business and become a productive member of society” when released from custody. Lewis Perry, for Gallagher, said the defendant maintained his view at the hearing that he was only involved in the buying and selling of tobacco and was not involved in the supply of controlled drugs. He said the defendant’s life took a “downward spiral” following his mother’s death and he suffered 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 “disaster” for Aberystwyth and said information from police showed the primary consumers were people moving into the town “in search of a better life”. He described the Class A drug trade as “evil” and said LSD was not a drug much heard of these days, “even though it seems to be trendy in Aberystwyth”. He said Bablak-Land operated “some kind of mobile store” for drugs and said the jury rejected Gallagher and Yafari’s “cigarette sales story.”
Bablak-Land, who received a one-quarter reduction in return for his guilty plea, was sentenced to two years in an institution for young offenders. Gallagher and Yafari, who were found guilty at trial and therefore did not receive any reduction in their sentences due to their guilty pleas, were sentenced to three years and two years in prison, respectively. Defendants will spend no more than half of their sentence in custody, after which they will be released with permission to serve the remainder in the community.
Dyfed-Powys Police were unable to provide a custody photo of Yafari
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