drugs kingpin gavin thorman (pictured) operated his empire from hmp altcourse  where he boasted in welsh he would make 'millions' when he got out  the kingpin of a violent drugs gang who planned to spend his money on new teeth, liposuction and a facelift has been jailed for 12 years after being caught out speaking about the illegal operation in welsh father of four gavin thorman, 36, of caernarfon, gwynedd, operated his drug empire from hmp altcourse in liverpool, where he boasted in welsh that he would make 'millions' when he got out of jail, caernarfon crown court heard drugs worth £200,000, luxury cars, guns and even a boat were all seized by detectives when they cracked the huge crime operation which involved 26 members of the same gang thorman organised the supply of cocaine and cannabis from liverpool and manchester in one of the largest conspiracies of its kind in north wales the court heard he planned to spend his ill gotten money on new teeth, liposuction, ab implants and a facelift when he got out of jail the gang leader thought he could get away with talking to his contacts from prison in welsh   but was unaware that police were recording and translating every conversation he was serving a sentence in the prison for assault when he was overheard bragging about his new contacts and discussing drugs thorman told his girlfriend: 'i'm only doing a small sentence so they won't be listening to my calls' prosecutor jayne la grua read excerpts from a phone call between thorman and fellow defendants richard broadley, 34, of colwyn bay, and adam roberts, 33, of caernarfon, in which thorman boasted about links to a notorious merseyside crime baron thorman also bragged about plans to import cannabis from amsterdam and ship bmws to jamaica he told his then girlfriend and fellow defendant yasmin owen, 25, of caernarfon: 'we're going to take over wrexham wrexham's like 10 times the size of town (caernarfon) 'i'll make a fortune there you know' some of the drugs seized during the operation   which was one of the largest to take place in north wales  thorman sent text messages which showed he maintained his position through threats of violence  drugs worth nearly £200,000 were seized by police during a five year painstaking investigation  the court heard thorman planned to spend his ill gotten money on new teeth, liposuction and a facelift  on december 5, 2013, owen asked thorman: 'does anyone hear these phone calls?' he replied: 'no, as if they're in welsh anyway, aren't they? no one would understand anyway' ms la grua said: 'he told her he planned to get new teeth in a couple of years once he's finished fighting, that top and bottom sets would cost £3,000 each, that he fancied lipo and ab implants which would be about eight grand, and definitely a facelift when he's older, maybe for his 40th birthday 'they then discussed a holiday in either mexico or the maldives, and possibly the maldives for their wedding' one of the guns sized by police following a number of raids which eventually led to yesterday's sentencing  the entire 26 strong gang was caught after painstaking surveillance work by 200 police officers from north wales, cheshire, merseyside and manchester, who followed their movements between north wales and north west england, as well as tracking their mobile phones despite thorman only using unregistered pay as you go mobile phones, police managed to trace 49 different numbers linked to him text messages showed he maintained his position through threats of violence thorman admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis thorman was jailed after he admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine (pictured) and cannabis  the judge was told he also had a previous conviction for possessing heroin with intent to supply yesterday thorman was one of 23 men and three women   all from the caernarfon and manchester areas   to appear before caernarfon crown court all were sentenced for their part in conspiring to supply class a and b controlled drugs into north wales between 2009 and 2014 in total the 26 received 127 years imprisonment   which is the most significant sentencing the region has ever seen for one investigation he and the others were jailed following a five year investigation by north wales police codenamed operation yonside while in prison thorman boasted about his links to a notorious merseyside crime baron  cars, drugs, guns and even this boat were all seized by detectives as they cracked the huge crime operation  it was set up as part of the wider operation scorpion which was set up to smash organised crime gangs and was launched in 2009 after large quantities of cocaine were found hidden in a hotel locker and the loft of a house in caernarfon information supplied by local police and members of the community helped detectives uncover drugs valued at over £179,000 stashed in various houses in the caernarfon area over 500 witness statements were recorded  over 200 officers from north wales, merseyside, cheshire and manchester were used  north wales police also worked with north wales fire and rescue service, gwynedd social services and gwynedd council's cctv  180 witnesses were involved  39 people were arrested and 34 addresses searched  over 200 hours of suspect interviews were carried out  over 2,700 exhibits were recovered, examined and reviewed  192 phones and devices were recovered, examined and reviewed  141 phone numbers were attributed to 34 defendants  66 sim cards and handsets were checked  413 telecommunication records were used  9,228 phone numbers were researched  police recovered 124kg of cocaine valued at £101,799, as well as 58kg of cannabis and plants worth £97,770 but judge merfyn hughes qc said: 'i am entirely satisfied that the total quantities of both drugs was many times that amount' the purity of the adulterated drugs was between 20 per cent and 30 per cent judge hughes said: 'it was a large scale and sophisticated conspiracy, one of the largest in the last 15 years 'it involved at least 26 individuals in a controlled crime syndicate 'gavin thorman controlled 14 individuals 'the harm to the general public and to the community of north wales and caernarfon in this case is incalculable' detective superintendent john hanson head of major crime north wales police said: 'the communities of north west wales are a safer place in which to live, visit, work and socialise today after the successful conclusion of this investigation 'this has been a protracted and often complex investigation into the unlawful activities of an organised crime group who have established criminal links across the north west of england to facilitate the distribution of controlled drugs into north west wales 'this criminal gang contained a number of violent individuals who would use and threaten violence as part of their criminality   however the communities in which they operated were not prepared to tolerate this behaviour 'i am grateful for their support and for the commitment and assistance we received from law enforcement colleagues and multi agency partners 'this has been a collective effort with a very positive outcome' caernarfon crown court heard thorman organised the supply of cocaine and cannabis from liverpool and manchester in one of the largest conspiracies of its kind in north wales  the 26 defendants are:  in total the 26 defendants received 127 years imprisonment   the most significant sentencing in the region 
nine years church drive eight years blackley 200,000 caer saint caernarfon anthony hunt richard broadley 14 months pool street llanddeiniolen tarporley close glan peris 47 12 months six months 18 months rochdale gavin thorman llandwrog moston llanberis road lon nant 32 dawn williams bromfield paark tweedle hill road cae mur ian ogden manchester jonathan white gregory appleby 23 adam roberts lon eilian rizwan hussain 41 dylan rees hughes two years stockport anthony ferguson paul hughes 30 middleton 10 months 29 patrick tynan gavin rees hughes 36 cae bold jake crookes ty'n lon 40 months 25 julian williams 12 years eight months james dylan davies nicole herbert ryan williams james whitworth 20 six years samuel hughes three months alconbury walk martin taylor 11 years selston road rudston avenue 40 weeks gethin ellis hesford avenue 34 christopher taylor 16 months 33 four years martin shaw 20 months white moss road 28 yasmin owen 26 five year 40 north wales
father of four gavin thorman, 36, was kingpin of a violent drugs gang  drugs worth £200,000 seized by police following five year investigation  planned to spend ill gotten money on new teeth, liposuction and a facelift  he has been jailed for 12 years after admitting conspiracy to supply drugs along with 25 other defendants involved in the north wales based group  gavin thorman, 36, of no fixed abode but formerly of caernarfon, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis   12 years  james dylan davies, 41, of cae mur, caernarfon, guilty to supplying cocaine   jailed eight years and six months  richard broadley, 34, formerly of caernarfon and now of tarporley close, stockport, guilty to supplying cocaine and cannabis   jailed six years and eight months  adam roberts, 33, of lon eilian, caernarfon, guilty to supplying cocaine and cannabis   jailed for eight years  christopher taylor, 29, of pool street, caernarfon, guilty to supplying cocaine and cannabis   jailed for eight years and three months  dylan rees hughes, 30, of glan peris, caernarfon, guilty to supplying cocaine and cannabis   jailed for nine years  jonathan white, 32, of caernarfon, pleaded guilty to supplying cannabis and having an imitation gun, found guilty of supplying cocaine after a trial   11 years  gavin rees hughes, 29, of ty'n lon, llandwrog, caernarfon, guilty to supplying cocaine   six years and eight months  martin taylor, 26, of pool street, caernarfon, guilty to supplying cannabis   40 months  gethin ellis, 23, of cae bold, caernarfon, guilty to supplying cocaine and cannabis   four years  paul hughes, 36, of lon nant, caernarfon, guilty to supplying cocaine and cannabis   four years and eight months  martin shaw, 32, of llanberis road, caernarfon, guilty to supplying cannabis   20 months  dawn williams, 47, of lon eilian, caernarfon, allowing premises to be used for supply of cocaine and cannabis   14 months  julian williams, 40, of lon eilian, caernarfon, guilty to allowing premises to be used for supply of cocaine and cannabis   40 weeks  yasmin owen, 25, of church drive, caernarfon, guilty to money laundering   12 months  ryan williams, 34, of caer saint, caernarfon, entering arrangement concerning criminal property   three and a half years  nicole herbert, 30, of llanddeiniolen, caernarfon, guilty to money laundering   10 months suspended for 18 months  rizwan hussain, 28, of rochdale and formerly of caernarfon, found guilty of supplying cannabis after trial   six years  james whitworth, 30, of manchester, pleaded guilty to cannabis, found guilty of supplying cocaine after trial   12 years  anthony ferguson, 20, of tweedle hill road, blackley, manchester, guilty of supplying cocaine and cannabis   six years and eight months  gregory appleby, 20, of bromfield paark, middleton, manchester, guilty of supplying cannabis   two years  ian ogden, 26, of hesford avenue, moston, manchester, guilty to supplying cannabis   16 months  samuel hughes, 34, of white moss road, blackley, manchester, guilty to supplying cannabis   18 months  jake crookes, 23, of selston road, blackley, manchester, guilty to supplying cannabis   16 months  patrick tynan, 23, of alconbury walk, blackley, manchester, guilty to supplying cocaine and cannabis   four years  anthony hunt, 30, of rudston avenue, manchester, guilty to supplying cannabis   16 months 