Three Dyfed Powys detectives have been commended today for their roles in bringing down the biggest cocaine smuggling gang ever seen in west and south Wales.

Judge Paul Thomas’ comments came as he passed down sentences on the final seven members of the gang and took the final tally of jail terms to 169 years.

Operation Phobos and Operation Pigeon smashed gangs in Liverpool, Manchester, south Wales and Milford Haven and led to sentencing hearings at Swansea crown court that lasted all week.

In total, 19 people were jailed.

Liverpool-based ring leader Ian Edwards received a 14 year sentence.

The main supply route was Liverpool to Clydach and later Llanelli, but Brian Bergamo, aged 31, of Vera Road, Clydach, spread the network to Milford Haven and recruited Leigh Salter.

Salter had his own network of dealers and users.

Today, Bergamo was jailed for eight years.

Salter was jailed in June for five years and three months.

By the time the police moved in the gang had shipped more than £18m worth of high purity cocaine into south and west Wales.

After the last of the suppliers had been jailed, Judge Thomas formally commended Det Sgt Rhys Jones, Det Con Sarah Totterdale and Det Con Steven Jones. He also commended civilian analyst Nathan John.

It had been, he said, a quite exceptional, detailed and complicated police investigation that had brought to book a very large conspiracy.

The methods deployed, and the analysis of a colossal amount of data, had been of the highest order.

The public owed all four a great deal of thanks, he added.

Details of the sheer size of the operation, and of the money being made, emerged during this week’s hearings.

When detectives arrested Edwards they found he had a photograph on his mobile telephone of an estimated £100,000 in used notes stuffed into a kitchen cupboard.

Andrew Price, aged 38, of Pentre Nicklaus Village, Llanelli, helped to arrange safe houses for the gang. He drove around in an £80,000 Mercedes and bought a £250,000 boat using his bank debit card. Today, he was jailed for 12 years.

The hearings also revealed the tragedies involved. Matthew Roberts, aged 32, of Maes Conwy, Llanelli, was jailed for 12 years—but he also helped his sister to receive a five and a half year sentence after he persuaded her to store his drugs at her home.

The west Wales gang members included Dane Bush, aged 29, of High Street, St Clears. He was jailed for eleven and a half years.

All the defendants had admitted, or been convicted of, conspiring to supply cocaine between November 2014 and November 2015.

Detective Chief Inspector Huw Davies, the Senior Investigating Officer for Operation Phobos, said: “Dyfed-Powys Police, with support from other forces and partner agencies, in particular the Crown Prosecution Service, has disrupted a significant criminal network that was operating throughout the UK.

“This is a tremendous result not only for Dyfed-Powys Police, but for the communities we serve. It is testament to the expertise and dedication of the Force’s Serious Organised Crime Team. Any other criminal groups thinking of targeting the Dyfed-Powys area should think again. We may police a largely rural, traditional area, but we have excellent detectives all committed to making sure our communities are not adversely affected by serious criminal groups such as these.

“May I also thank the members of the public who provided vital information during the course of the investigation. The role members of the public play in making their own communities safer and bringing people to justice should not be under-estimated.

“I urge anyone who suspects someone in their community is involved in the supply of controlled drugs or other criminal activity to contact us on 101 or should you wish to remain anonymous please contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”