Cocaine factory found when suspicions raised by number of blenders bought at Asda
Police uncover £300,000 cocaine factory in South Wales after supermarket staff grow suspicious of Gavin Etchell and Thomas Davies buying up to a dozen £7.99 mixers
Thomas Davies (top right) and Gavin Etchell used the blenders to mix the drug Photo: Wales News
By Agency
12:06PM GMT 16 Mar 2015
Two drug dealers were caught after buying up to 12 food blenders from Asda to mix their cocaine.
Supermarket staff were suspicious when the pair bought so many of the £7.99 mixers and did not look like they were home bakers or cooks.
Police were tipped off and discovered the £300,000 cocaine "factory", run by Gavin Etchell and Thomas Davies in South Wales.
Four compressed blocks of cocaine were found with a street value of £300,000 (Wales News)
Etchell, 33, and 29-year-old Davies were jailed for a total of nearly 16 years after police found a "well-equipped" drug operation at Etchell's home.
Officers found mixers and four compressed blocks of cocaine with a street value of £300,000.
There was also 5.8kg of the cutting agent benzocaine, which was due to put into the mixers to blend with the cocaine to increase profits.
Prosecutor Roger Griffiths said: "It was the purchase of mixers by Davies in such quantities at the Asda store that the suspicions of the staff were aroused and the police were informed."
Etchell and Davies, both of Tonypandy, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court. Etchell was jailed for nine years and Davies for six years and eight months.
Detective Inspector Dan Michel, said: "Thanks to information we had from the community we were able to take action and take these two drug dealers out of business.
"They were clearly dealing in large quantities of cocaine and were behind the area's supply."
"A significant amount of cash has been seized and officers will look for any assets that they suspect were funded through drug money and confiscate them under the Proceeds of Crime Act."