Two men from Norfolk have been jailed after being caught at Aberystwyth railway station attempting to bring thousands of pounds worth of heroin and cocaine into the town.

Swansea Crown Court heard last week that police had received intelligence in connection with a county lines operation that a consignment of drugs was on its way in to Aberystwyth on 8 April this year.

Lying in wait at the town’s railway station, officers arrested three men, including 18-year-old Lewis Cook and 24-year-old Ronnie Dunne when they stepped off the train.

Robin Rouch, prosecuting, said the officers went at the railway station to meet the train, and spotted the trio arriving on the platform who “appeared to be unsure of where they were”.

When approached by police they said they had come to visit family.

After being arrested, the trio were taken to Bronglais Hospital for scans as police suspected they had smuggled the drugs internally.

Tests showed packages hidden in the anuses of Cook, of Dairy Way, King’s Lynn, and Dunne, of Archdale Street, King’s Lynn.

Cook was later found to be carrying more than £4,000 worth of heroin, while Dunne had 39 rocks of crack cocaine worth around £780.

In his interview, Cook told police that he had been forced to bring the drugs to Wales, while Dunne also said he had been coerced into acting as a courier.

Mr Rouch said the prosecution did not challenge the assertions that the defendants were acting as couriers and were acting under “a degree of pressure” from others.

The court also heard the third man arrested at Aberystwyth railway station had been dealt with separately for possession of cannabis.

Cook and Dunne had both previously pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine and heroin with intent to supply when they appeared in the dock via videolink for sentencing, and have spent four months in custody awaiting sentence.

Defending for Cook, Paul Hobson told the court that he had turned 18 just four days before the trip to Aberystwyth.

Mr Hobson said that Cook had been “drawn-in through naivety”, and then became exploited by those more criminally sophisticated.

The court heard he had a previous conviction for possession of cannabis with intent to supply.

Cook was sentenced to 21 months in a young offenders institution.

Defending for Dunne, Dyfed Thomas said he had experienced a “very difficult upbringing”, and was remorseful for getting involved in bringing drugs to Aberystwyth.

Dunne, who the court heard has 24 previous convictions, was subject to a suspended sentence for a domestic incident at the time of the new offence.

Dunne was jailed for 22 months and two weeks, and had the suspended sentence activated to run consecutively, for an overall sentence of 23 months. The pair will serve up to half those periods in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.