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A drug gang member has been jailed for two years for his part in an organised conspiracy which ferried cannabis between Wales, England and Scotland.

Ronald McDonald, 45, of Dunfermline, was told by Judge Niclas Parry that he had played his part in what was nothing less than a nationally organised, sophisticated conspiracy which included sourcing drugs from recognised international importers.

McDonald, he said, was the link between England and Wales, and Scotland, and he had very close connections to the main conspirator in Scotland and would be trusted to pay over thousands of pounds.

Mold Crown Court was told he had been directed to meet couriers making deliveries of drugs from Wales on at least 35 occasions and the defendant would also deposit money into the bank account of the main conspirator William O’Brien from Wrexham.

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Only some of the vehicles had been stopped by the police and they had been found to contain money - £34,000 on one occasion and £18,000 on another.

Judge Parry said that McDonald – who pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply cannabis – had delayed his own sentencing by prevarication.

In October of last year William O’Brien, 32, of Penllwyn, Wrexham, was jailed for four years after he admitted the conspiracy.

Others received suspended sentences.

Overseas links

Prosecuting barrister Jayne La Grua told how the cannabis supply gang was smashed by police using listening devices and covert surveillance.

Automatic number plate recognition and mobile phone cell net evidence had been gathered and police watched meetings taking place on occasions between conspirators and other known large scale drug suppliers.

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The court heard how it was a nationwide conspiracy with links to drugs being brought it from Thailand and the Netherlands.

But there had been huge delays in the case.

Conspirators were first arrested in April 2012 but the first proceedings were declared a nullity five days into the trial because the prosecution had failed to get the Attorney General’s consent to prosecute the Scottish side of the case.

The proceedings were then re-started.