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It would be remiss of this publication not to comment on the sentencing of a gang of drug dealers responsible for poisoning Aberystwyth with cocaine in a criminal enterprise that sadly is too prevalent across Wales.
In the Aberystwyth case, a dozen men were rounded up by Dyfed-Powys Police following an extensive operation by their officers. The gang, with members from Liverpool and across the Midlands, were nabbed with more than £400,000 worth of street drugs including cocaine and cannabis.
When the case was heard before the courts, the gang received sentences that combined amounted to 48 years. In the opinion of this newspaper, those sentences could well have been doubled.
The few officers that work our streets, the fed-up people who live in communities blighted by drug users, the burden placed on our over-worked and under-funded social services, and the limited time available for our Crown prosecutors are all the result of scum like the dirty dozen jailed for their sick criminal enterprise.
Gone are the days when cars could be left unlocked or doors of homes left open. Now, our communities are riddled with the drug-dependent who will do anything to get their regular fixes.
Our educators and case workers know only too well the distraught caused by teens caught up in county lines gangs, sucked into a vortex of crime by manipulative gangsters who prey on the weak and the vulnerable.
Cocaine and other drugs are too readily available and there is barely a bar in any town or village in west Wales where patrons are warned of the risks of buying narcotics.
Our police officers deserve our full support for the difficult and dangerous work they undertake in tracking down these out-of-town criminals who are all too ready to turn to violence to meet their greed.
Thank you to those involved in bringing this particular gang to justice.
Sadly, we know only all too well that there are too many others who step up to fill any void in the underworld market place. We can never be complacent when it comes to rooting out these scumbags.