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A man moved to Swansea to start a drug-dealing operation and enrolled on a university course to provide a cover story for his presence in the city. Suleman Miskry was sourcing a range of drugs including cocaine, ketamine, cannabis, and ecstasy from the dark web and from contacts in Bristol for supply across the city.
Miskry had a number of people working with and for him in the operation including his half-brother Sameh Mohammed and together they were supplying significant quantities of Class A and Class B drugs and making hundreds of thousands of pounds. Miskry, who also goes by the name James Lee, was funnelling the cash through a number of different bank accounts. He later tried to lie his way out of responsibility for dealing by producing forged travel documents to give himself an alibi.
Sending the gang down a judge at Swansea Crown Court said they were all intelligent young men who had been “seduced” by the lifestyle on offer and the money to be made. She told them drug dealing was not a victimless crime but one that caused real harm to the students and young people they had been selling to.
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Helen Randall, prosecuting, said the drug-dealing operation was taken down following a series of police searches at flats and houses of multiple occupation in the Brynmill and Uplands areas of Swansea sparked by the arrest of Mohammed in April 2020. During the raids significant quantities of drugs were seized – including one stash hidden inside what purported to be a tin of Heinz spaghetti in the kitchen of a student house – along with cash and mobile phones. Analysis of phone messages and WhatsApp conversations between Miskry and Mohammed and co-defendants Christopher John, Christopher Marston, and Adrian Edokpolor, and between all five defendants and customers, showed the nature and scale of the operation.
The court heard the investigation found Miskry was running the operation and was buying drugs including cocaine, cannabis, ketamine, ecstasy, and the synthetic psychedelic drug 2C-B over the so-called dark web, as well as through contacts in the Uplands area of Swansea, and from people in Bristol where he had previously lived. These drugs were then sold to students and others across Swansea. After being arrested during the investigation then released on bail he went straight back to dealing. The court heard Miskry “enjoyed the glory” and the attention that came with being a dealer. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter here.
After a lengthy investigation all five defendants were charged in connection with the supply of Class A and Class B drugs. Miskry denied being involved in dealing and the matter went to trial not once but twice. The first trial had to be abandoned after Miskry produced travel documents which he claimed showed he had been out of the country at the relevant times. However police were able to prove that the documents were forgeries and Miskry stood trial for a second time and was convicted. The other defendants admitted their roles in the enterprise at various stages of the court process.
Suleman Miskry, aged 31, of Brynymor Road, Swansea, had previously been convicted of multiple counts of possession of Class A and Class B drugs with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of Class A and Class B drugs, money laundering, and attempting to pervert the course of justice when he returned to the dock for sentencing. He has a previous convictions for possession of drugs with intent to supply. Sameh Mohammed, aged 24, of King Edward’s Road, Barking, London; Christopher Barry Marston, aged 23, of Arnold Crescent Twickenham; Christopher Ethan John, aged 23, of Marlborough Road, Brynmill, Swansea; and 21-year-old Adrian Edokpolor, of Avondale Road, Tottenham, London, had all previously pleaded guilty to Class A and Class B trafficking offences when they appeared alongside Miskry.
Sending all five defendants to prison judge Catherine Richards said at the heart of the case were young men who had been “seduced by greed” and the apparent lifestyle on offer. She said the defendants were all clever and educated young men from supportive families who had chosen to involve themselves in the supply of drugs. The judge said drug dealing was not a “victimless crime” but caused real harm to the students and other young people the defendants had chosen to supply to.
Judge Richards said Miskry had come to Swansea to establish a drug-dealing business and enrolled on a university course to hide what he was doing in the city. He was sentenced to a total of 13 years in prison comprising 11 and a half years for the drugs matters and five years for money laundering to run concurrently and 18 months for attempting to pervert the course of justice to run consecutively. The judge said Miskry’s brother Mohammed had a management function in the operation and, like Miskry, had continued to deal after being arrested and released on bail during the investigation. With a 10% discount for his guilty plea he was sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison.
Judge Richards said both Marston and John had been “seduced by the lifestyle” on offer. With a 10% discount for his guilty pleas Marston was sentenced to three years and one month in prison and with a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas John was sentenced to two years and two months in prison. With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas Edokpolor was sentenced to two years and five months in prison.
All the defendants will serve up to half their sentences in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. Judge Richards said the police, and in particular the officer in the case, should be commended for their work on the investigation.
Speaking after the sentencing South Wales Police detective inspector Marc Gardner said: “This was a complex and protracted investigation conducted by the Swansea organised crime team. It involved countless lines of inquiry and was expertly conducted by detective constable Andrew Henderson. The team’s relentless and determined investigative approach to this case resulted in exceptional results.”
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