These brothers led a valleys cocaine gang and employed their parents to wash the money

An organised crime group led by two brothers in the Rhondda Valley employed their parents to launder money made through the sale of cocaine. Members of the crime group were sentenced to a combined total of more than 70 years' imprisonment.

Thomas Davies, 38, and Jack Davies, 37, headed up a conspiracy which saw multiple kilograms of cocaine being driven to south Wales by couriers. The drugs were then cut down into lower purity cocaine and sold on in varying amounts from kilograms to grams.

Jacqueline Davies, 59, and Byron Davies, 66, the parents of Thomas and Jack, helped to launder money for their sons, with a safe in Byron's home found to contain £57,000. A shell company called Valley Self Storage was also set up to launder the funds.

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Thomas Davies' partner Nicole Locke, 31, acted as a street dealer, dealing with the day-to-day "gram" customers, and "washed" the cocaine into crack cocaine. Christopher Adams, 39, Scott Alway, 35, and Steven Evans, 38, acted as couriers for the group, travelling across the UK to pick up multi kilogram amounts of cocaine back to south Wales for onward sale.

When Steven Evans was arrested he was discovered with £23,000 worth of cash in a safe and had more than £50,000 unexplained cash in his bank accounts. Gavin Etchell, 42, also acted as a courier and a high-level street dealer, supplying ounce amounts of cocaine to street dealers. He was stopped by police on July 23, 2020 on the A40 Trunk Road in Monmouth in a BMW.

Etchell was arrested for a separate matter, and two of his mobile phones were seized and downloaded. There was evidence on the phones he was supplying cocaine on behalf of Thomas Davies.

On February 9, 2021, police executed warrants targeting the Davies brothers. More than two kilograms of cocaine were recovered, along with 50kg of cutting agent, two hydraulic presses and blenders. These were found in a man-made drugs factory set up in a garage at the rear of Patridge Road, Trealaw, which was rented by the Davies brothers for £50 per month.

At a sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday, Thomas Davies, of Buckley Road, Trealaw, Tonypandy, was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and cocaine and being concerned in arrangement to facilitate acquisition or control of criminal property.

Jack Davies, of Buckley Road, was sentenced to 13 years and seven months imprisonment for conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and cocaine and being concerned in arrangement to facilitate acquisition or control of criminal property.

Jacqueline Davies, of Buckley Road, was sentenced to two years imprisonment, for being concerned in an offer to supply cocaine and being concerned in arrangement to facilitate acquisition or control of criminal property.

Byron Davies, of Heol Trecastell, Caerphilly, was sentenced to one year and seven months imprisonment suspended for two years, for being concerned in arrangement to facilitate acquisition or control of criminal property.

Nicole Locke, of Pergwm Street, Trealaw, Tonypandy, was sentenced to two years and two months imprisonment suspended for two years, for conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and cocaine.

Scott Alway, of Heather Close, Trealaw, Tonypandy, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment for conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Steven Evans of Trealaw Road, Trealaw, Tonypandy, was sentenced to eight years and nine months imprisonment for conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property.

Gavin Etchell, of HMP Parc, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for conspiracy to supply cocaine and failure to comply with a serious crime prevention order.

Christopher Adams, of Kenry Street, Tonypandy, was sentenced to eight years and six months imprisonment for conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Following the hearing, detective constable Lewis Watkins, of South Wales Police, said: "All nine involved were key figures in this drug supply chain and I am thrilled that we have been able to sentence them for their crimes and remove them from our communities.

"The sentences passed down sends a strong message that drugs and organised crime groups have no place in our communities. Not only have we been able to disrupt this OCG and their operation, but we have also been able to take a large quantity of drugs off the streets. South Wales Police is committed to protecting our communities and the success of this operation shows that we will use all necessary tactics to target organised crime groups and those participating in corruption, fraud, and money laundering."

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