A gang from south London have been sentenced to prison for a combined total of 36 years after "flooding" a Welsh town with drugs.

Friday, March 15, saw the final sentencing for the "Goldie" county lines operation at Cardiff Crown Court.

Operation Goldie was an investigation into the Goldie county line Organised Crime Group (OCG).

The Goldie line was controlled from London from October 19, 2018, until May 23, 2019, and it flooded the Welsh town Bridgend with diamorphine (heroin) and ‘crack’ cocaine with the total quantity of 3.29 kilograms.

During enforcement phases within Bridgend and London, nine people were arrested and convicted of Drug Trafficking and Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) offences.

The head of the county line was 26-year-old Caine Morris-McGibbon (‘Goldie’), who controlled the line.

Santana Donegan, 23, from Camberwell, and Dejuan Bell, from Lambeth, trafficked the drugs from London to South Wales and controlled the hands-on dealing to customers.

Menna Thomas, 29, from Bridgend allowed her home in Pencoed to be used as a base for the ‘Goldie’ Line to operate from, where the drugs were prepared and stored ahead of distribution to Class A users in and around the Bridgend area.

John Hauxwell, 46, from Brackla, hired the vehicle which was used by himself and gang members to deliver the Class A drugs.

Shaquile Oduleye, 27, from south Lambeth and 31-year-old Tenika Brown from Lambeth facilitated the transfers of monies from their accounts to Morris-McGibbon.

Aisha Mills, 26, from Croydon and Joanne Gordon, 49, from London allowed their premises in South London to store wholesale quantities of diamorphine (heroin), ‘crack’ cocaine, cutting agents and weapons along with facilitating money transfers for McGibbon.

The sentencing was as followed:

Morris-McGibbon also trafficked a 16-year-old boy to work as part of his drug dealing enterprise.

• Caine Jardel Morris-McGibbon received 11 years and six months

• Santana Donegan received eight years

• Dejuan Maurice Bell – 24, received eight years

• Menna Louise Thomas received six years and six months

• John Hauxwell received a two-year suspended sentence

• Shaquile Oduleye received a Community Order for Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) offences

• Tenika Brown received a Community Order for Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) offences

• Aisha Mills received a Community Order for Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) offences

• Joanne Gordon received a Community Order for Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) offences

Detective Sergeant Richard Gregory said: “We have disrupted a major county line drug dealing gang jailing nine people involved in a significant organised conspiracy after a five-year operation which has taken a large number of dangerous people and substances off the streets.

“The case saw officers trawling through a vast amount of media data, phone analysis, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) along with forensic and tactical enforcements which needed overlaying to order to put forward a meticulous prosecution case.

“We will continue to proactively target those we believe to be involved in drugs and use the powers we have to make sure their activity is disrupted".

Detective Constable Adam Yeates added: “County lines crime continues to be a problem which often involves the exploitation of vulnerable individuals in the supply of illegal drugs which causes harm to our communities.

"This sentence sends a clear message that individuals involved in the supply and transportation of harmful drugs into our communities will be brought to justice and dealt with robustly."