MEMBERS of a gang running the Aberystwyth end of a sophisticated Wales-wide drugs conspiracy have been sentenced today to more than 27 years in jail.

The five flooded the town with cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine and cannabis “on a staggering scale” and targeted students, who they referred to as “stupid".

Detectives estimated they sold up to £2.74m of cocaine alone before being caught.

Swansea Crown Court heard they were enrolled in a network that supplied drugs from Liverpool to north Wales and then on to Aberystwyth and down to Llanelli.

They stashed the drugs in rural locations so remote they could be approached only on foot.

But they also used 41 The Esplanade, Aberystwyth, where police found £5,641 in cash, 7,000 small plastic bags, scales, mobile phones and an air rifle fitted with a telescopic scope.

Andrew Jones, prosecuting, said Josh Waters, aged 25, of Heol Tyn-y-fron, Aberystwyth, was the gang leader.

Detectives tracked him carrying out 50 drugs runs from north Wales. They also discovered he had a locked container in the town in which they found a safe and a handgun capable of firing only blanks but appearing to be realistic.

Mr Jones said: “They were not afraid of letting it be known that they were prepared to use intimidation.”

The second in command was Callum Edwards-Pritchard, aged 22, of Oak Cottage, Aberystwyth, who was described as “a trusted right hand man” who was implicated in 22 drugs runs.

Mr Jones said Edwards-Pritchard had refused to reveal the PIN of his mobile, despite a judicial request, which had held up the investigation

Leroy Numa, 22, of Manchester, was a former Aberystwyth University student said by his barrister Dean Pulling “to have fallen in with the wrong crowd, become dependent on drugs and dropped out".

Police discovered he had never deleted a text message and experts were able to download 1,800 pages of messages, mostly about drugs. One described a user as “looking to get stabbed".

Liam Antwiss, 23, of Corporation Street, Aberystwyth, and Joseph George, 24, of Darwen, Lancashire, were said to have been lower-level street dealers.

All five admitted conspiring to supply Class A and Class B drugs.

Waters was jailed for 10 years, Edwards-Pritchard for six and George for four. Antwiss and Numa received sentences of three years and eight months each.

Judge Paul Thomas said Aberystwyth was a university town with a huge student population - and Waters’ text messages showed the indifference he viewed them with.

On Friday last week, Sam James, 20, was jailed for four years for his part in the drugs gang.

Today’s hearing brought to 193 years the total handed out to dealers caught in Operation Ulysses.

Officers were praised for their work during Operation Ulysses with a Judge's Commendation for senior investigating officers DI Gareth Roberts and DS Rhys Jones, DC Cheryl Wright as officer in the case, DC Dylan Rowlands as disclosure officer and Nathan John as the Serious and Organised Crime team analyst.

See this week’s Aberystwyth paper for more on this story