A mid Wales drug dealer was convicted for possession of what he thought were 100,000 diazepam pills- but turned out to be paracetamol.

Officers saw Robert Thomas, aged 41, coming out of his address in Corporation Street, in Aberystwyth with blue powder around his lips. He was stopped and searched and several white and blue tablets were found in his possession, leading to his arrest.

This came after a member of the public phoned the Police to say they had seen two people taking blue pills in the area - both of them having a blue substance around their mouths.

Officers then searched Thomas’ home where they found a bag containing 3g of herbal cannabis, as well as a small set of weighing scales and 0.77g of cannabis under his bed.

However, officers then discovered 101,000 blue and white tablets hidden in various containers – including two large buckets, each containing thousands of the pills.

While being checked into custody, a further search of Thomas found £480 in cash and a Motorola mobile phone – and more blue tablets being found in a snap bag between his buttocks.

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It is believed Thomas had bulk-bought what he thought was Diazepam tablets on the internet to sell on.

However, forensic testing revealed that 3,211 of them were Flualprazolam which fall within the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, while the other 97,814 were paracetamol that had been dyed blue.

The street value of the tablets seized, if sold as Diazepam, would be between £101,000 and £202,000 or £40,000 if sold wholesale.

During interview, Thomas confirmed he had paid £12,000 for each of the large tubs, but claimed he had received more than he had ordered and wasn’t selling them on.

However, when officers looked at Thomas’ phone they found significant evidence of drug dealing, offering to sell cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines, cannabis and Diazepam.

County Times: The pills that were seized form the propertyThe pills that were seized form the property (Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)

DS Steven Jones said: “Following the good work from our officers who attended the initial call through to the thorough investigation that followed, we were able to show Thomas was an active dealer who was selling drugs on a large scale in Ceredigion.

“This case shows that we can prosecute those involved in drug supply even without them being caught in possession of the drugs.

Thomas was convicted following trial at Swansea Crown Court and was sentenced on Friday, 20 January.

For offering to supply cocaine and MDMA he was sentenced to five-and-a-half years for each, and for offering to supply amphetamine and cannabis he was sentenced to 12 months each and Diazepam six months.

All sentences will run concurrently, meaning his total sentence is five-and-a-half years.