A CANNABIS supplier was caught with almost £1,500 worth of the drug hidden in a protein tub – while he was already under investigation for drug offences.

Daryl Stephens, 31, was pulled over by police on Mill Terrace in Ammanford on July 23 last year.

The officers said Stephens, who was driving four passengers in the Ford Transit, “smelt strongly of cannabis, and so did the vehicle”, prosecutor Hannah George said.

He tested positive on a roadside drug test.

When officers searched his vehicle, they found 75 grams of cannabis, weighing scales, a cannabis grinder, and snap bags. There was £865 in cash, two mobile phones – one of which had a further £40 in notes stored with it.

When officers seized Stephens’ phones, one of them received a text reading: ‘Can you drop it off?’, Ms George said.

In a police interview on July 24, Stephens denied he was supplying cannabis, claiming it was for his own personal use to medicate his anxiety.

He was released on bail, but continued to deal cannabis.

On the evening of September 26, Stephens was stopped while driving an MG 4x4 in the Haverfordwest area.

The officers said he smelt strongly of cannabis, and he tested positive in a roadside test.

They found two snap bags of cocaine – totalling 1.2 grams – in a compartment near the steering wheel, 5.5 grams of cannabis in the centre console, and a further 3.5 grams of cannabis elsewhere in the car.

The officers also found 253 grams of cannabis in a protein tub in the car.

The cannabis had a street value of between £1,100 and £1,400, Ms George said, although it could be sold for more than £2,000 if split into smaller quantities.

Stephens was arrested, and in an interview the following day, said he didn’t intend to sell the cannabis. He claimed he had psoriasis, and said he bathed in the cannabis to treat it.

The officers found voice notes and messages on his phone relating to supplying “significant quantities” of cannabis.

“One customer paid £1,100 for cannabis,” Ms George said.

There were also messages showing he was using other people to deal the drugs, including telling someone to set up a new Snapchat account using an email he provided for dealing in the Pembrokeshire area.

Stephens, formerly of Dolawel in Ystradowen, had 13 previous convictions for 19 offences – six of which were drug-related.

He admitted these offences on the day of his trial.

“The defendant did not trouble the police or the courts for some six years until the summer of 2022 when his marriage broke down,” said James Hartson, defending.

“The defendant was perfectly capable of living a decent and law-abiding life, until his marriage broke up, leading to him abusing cannabis again.”

Mr Hartson said Stephens, now of Keats Grove in Haverfordwest, had since moved in with his father.

“His father is a positive influence,” he said. “He has made reference to leaving behind some of those negative influences in Carmarthenshire.”

Addressing Stephens, Judge Huw Rees said: “You have been a significant supplier of cannabis. This drug is not to be underestimated in respect to its commercial value or, in some cases, its dangers.”

Stephens was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment for possession with intent to supply cannabis – with regard to September 26.

For the same charge on July 23, he was handed a 16-month sentence, running concurrently.

He also received 16 months for being concerned in the supply of cannabis between August 26 and September 27 last year, and two months for possession of cocaine on September 26. Both of these sentences also run concurrently.

Judge Rees ordered a charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine – between September 22 and 27 last year – that Stephens had denied, lies on file.

He also ordered that all the money recovered would be seized, and he revoked the community order which had been issued in March 2023.