A man was found with around £50,000 worth of cannabis and running a "production line" from his bedroom in Cardiff. Shawn Martin was discovered in his bedroom surrounded by the drug when police entered his home earlier this year.

Martin, 27, of Canton in Cardiff, was investigated as part of an intelligence-led operation by Tarian regional organised crime unit (ROCU) made up of South Wales Police, Gwent Police, and Dyfed-Powys Police police officers and staff with partners in the UK Border Force.

Officers from Tarian’s regional disruption team attended Martin's address on May 31 after a parcel from the USA containing a kilogram of cannabis and addressed to Martin had been intercepted three days earlier. When officers entered the property Martin was found surrounded by wholesale amounts of cannabis which he was in the process of decanting in small bags.

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His bedroom was described as a “cannabis production line” including numerous empty parcels and items which had been used to conceal cannabis whilst being imported. A search of Martin's bedroom revealed huge amounts of cannabis labelled with individual strains, cannabis vapes, various edible drugs such as psilocybin-laced chocolate, THC gummies, and evidence of drug supply such as tick lists, weighing scales, and paraphernalia. There was £2,825 in cash located in the bedroom.

Also in Martin’s bedroom were three knives – one of which was a black-handled serrated knife approximately eight inches long. Another was a knuckleduster-shaped knife with a folding large blade while the third was a spring-loaded automatic knife.

While officers were searching the house a parcel that had been shipped from the USA addressed to the defendant was delivered. This parcel stated it was from a sender in the US and contained “geography books". The parcel was opened and found to contain a further kilo of cannabis inside numerous layers of wrapping and vacuum bags. The total amount of cannabis including cannabis resin seized weighed more than 5,600 grams with an estimated street value of between £48,720 and £53,300.

A review of Martin’s phone showed that he had been dealing drugs since November 2019 until his arrest. He had been using cryptocurrency to purchase the drugs from overseas and import them into the country. Martin pleaded guilty to eight offences of being concerned in supplying Class A and Class B drugs, fraudulently evading a prohibition, possession with intent to supply, and possessing of a knife in a dwelling. On October 26 Martin appeared at Newport Crown Court where he was convicted of these offences and sentenced to five years in prison.

Investigating officer PC Adam Griffiths said: “Shawn Martin had been dealing cannabis since November 2019 and during this time his customer base and the sophistication of his operation increased exponentially. He was importing wholesale amounts of controlled drugs from overseas into the Cardiff area using sophisticated concealments. The extent of his offending was such that even though a parcel had been intercepted three days prior to his arrest another kilogram of cannabis turned up whilst officers were at the address searching.

“He was making a vast amount of money from his drug-dealing enterprise. His offending behaviour escalated last year when he began offering Class A controlled drugs in the way of psilocybin edibles for sale to his customer base. He used encrypted applications, cryptocurrency, and private chats in order to disguise his offending and attempt to protect his identity. Martin even made the brazen attempt to run his own lottery scheme with drugs as prizes and offer 'bundles' for Christmas as if he was a legitimate business.

“I welcome the sentence given to Martin as this serves as a clear message to those involved in the supply of controlled drugs that we will continue to work with our partners in other forces and UK Border Force to identify and pursue those who attempt to import controlled drugs into the south Wales area and prosecute those responsible, bringing them before the courts. We will then start Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings to ensure that those involved do not profit from their criminality.”