30/09/2016 BBC Wales Today

Welcome to Wales Today, tonight's top stories:

It was the biggest ever drugs investigation by Dyfed-Powys Police.

19 people are sentenced to 169 years behind bars.

And why the Welsh Government sold these properties

for almost ?1 million less than it paid for them.

It was the biggest drugs investigation ever

conducted by Dyfed-Powys Police, and it's led to 19 people

being sentenced to 169 years behind bars.

The gang, which included members from South Wales,

attempted to sell ?19 million worth of cocaine.

These are the people who, it was said in court,

brought misery and debt to many families.

Convicted of a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs,

Described in court as the leaders of this drugs ring,

32-year-old Matthew Roberts from Maes Conwy in Llanelli

and 30-year-old Ian Michael Edwards from Liverpool

took their time to recruit and plan their efforts

to bring 15 kilos of cocaine to south-west Wales.

It's fair to say this is one of the most challenging operations

that we have undertaken here with Dyfed-Powys Police.

To give you an example of the numbers deployed in Liverpool

during the arrest phase of the upstream suppliers,

in excess of 200 officers were deployed in the Liverpool area.

This quiet street in Clydach in the Swansea Valley

became the centre of their operations.

where the cocaine was transported from Liverpool and Manchester.

Here, it was cut, mixed and packaged,

of the South Wales Valleys and Pembrokeshire.

And it was here where Dyfed-Powys Police

were able to conceal a recording device

to catch the gang of criminals red-handed.

The investigation focused on the activities of organised-crime groups

in South West Wales, Liverpool and Greater Manchester.

Very soon, it became clear to police of the roles

others as safe-house guardians and couriers.

It became a UK-wide police effort to catch all those involved,

and eventually more than 2.5 kilos of high purity cocaine was seized

as well as hundreds and thousands of pounds in cash.

Each defendant in this case had a distinct role within the group,

and each therefore bears responsibility

for bringing misery to the communities they supplied.

Together they preyed upon those in the grip of addiction who

often turned to often other types of crime to support their habit.

There's been a 15% rise in hospital admissions involving cocaine

and in 2013 cocaine was mentioned on the death record of seven people.

In the same year, police in Wales made 761 cocaine seizures.

That's higher than the number of times

At the close of proceedings today, Judge Paul Thomas said

this had been a detailed and exceptional investigation.

He formally commended three officers of Dyfed-Powys Police

He said the public owed them a great debt of thanks for their work.

Ben Price, BBC Wales Today, at Swansea Crown Court.

The man charged with the murder of two people

on Cardiff's Queen Street on Wednesday has appeared in court.

Andrew Saunders spoke to confirm his name and date of birth

and gave his address as of no fixed abode.

to appear at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday.

were stabbed near the Matalan shop where they both worked.

A gymnastics coach has been sentenced to six years in prison at

Cardiff Crown Court for sexually abusing young children. The court

was told Luke Griffin was sexually gratified by feet and tied up his

victims. He groomed seven girls and one boy between the ages of seven

and ten. One youth charity says children need to be encouraged to

talk about any behaviour they are uncomfortable with.

The best thing we can do is to teach the children

to keep themselves safe, to teach them that it isn't OK

for grown-ups to touch them in certain ways,

that they need to come and tell us as parents or as teachers, you know,

that you go to somebody you trust if a grown-up does something that

Three shops in Pontypridd were sold by the Welsh Government

for close to ?1 million less than the price they paid for them.

as part of regeneration plans which didn't materialise.

An opposition AM has referred the case to a spending watchdog.

The Government says it sold them based on professional advice.

though clearly there were bargains to be had here.

In 2008, the Welsh Government was hoping this area of Pontypridd

would be transformed by a new shopping centre.

As a result, it bought three shops at a total cost of over ?1 million.

But when the economy crash, the idea was dropped.

Ministers had paid ?800,000 for these two shops

and a further ?450,000 for with this one.

But earlier this year all three were sold for a total of just

?271,000, around a fifth of the original cost.

It only came to light after this Assembly Member

uncovered the information through a freedom of information request.

He has now referred the matter to the police.

It's clear that it is happening time and time again,

so at the very least, we are talking about a series of incompetencies.

There should be some disciplinary procedures followed there,

if people have not done what they should have been doing.

An independent valuation for the last government said

the lower price was as a result of changes in market conditions

for properties of this nature over the period between 2008 and 2016,

the properties were vacant, so not generating a rental income,

and that the condition had deteriorated

But I've been told the Welsh Government

only asked for that information earlier this week.

The letter containing the advice is dated yesterday,

a month after the initial request was made to ministers,

so we have asked the Welsh Government, why was that decision

taken earlier this year to sell these properties?

The Welsh Government says it sold the properties

because they had been identified as surplus stock.

The matter has now been referred to Wales's public spending watchdog,

the Audit Office - they say they're considering

the information to see if further investigation is required.

The first ever awards ceremony for young black people in Wales

who have made a positive contribution to their community

has taken place in Cardiff as part of Black History Month.

Among the winners, 18-year-old former asylum seeker

Kimberly Mpukusa, who was coached by her father

It means a lot to me, words cannot explain how much my parents have

struggled car Donmar, how much I have struggled, and this award shows

if you work hard, if you sacrifice, you can become big and people can

recognise like how hard you have worked.

The RSPCA is appealing for a new home

for a dog whose ears were cut off by his previous owner.

Victor, the two-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier type,

His owner was jailed for 24 weeks yesterday

The Dragons suffered a home defeat to Glasgow in the Pro12 tonight.

The Dragons led early on in the second-half,

but the visitors fought back, final score 17- 26.

Time for the weather now, Sue has the weekend forecast.

We are in for a mixed weekend, feeling fresher,

Sunday is looking drier and brighter.

The trough which brought today's showers clears eastwards,

and then this next area of low pressure

pushing in to bring rain at times tomorrow.

Overnight, some clear spells further east,

but that next band of more persistent, heavy showery rain

will arrive in the West, lows of 8-11 Celsius.

Tomorrow, some dry spells in the North and East,

but outbreaks of rain pushing in across South and West Wales,

a Met Office warning for these, which could be heavy at times,

with a risk of hail and thunder,

and across parts of southern England.

North of that front, though, fewer showers,

drier and brighter, but with quite brisk winds.

The best of the brightness across northern Scotland,

but feeling fresher, just 13 Celsius here,

And for Wales, fewer showers tomorrow afternoon,

with brighter spells developing, winds easing later.

Cooler than recent days, 11 Celsius in South Powys, 14 in Wrexham.

Now, later tomorrow, that low clears eastwards,

high pressure building from the south for Sunday,

a settled spell between these two weather systems.

So tomorrow night, showers easing, turning drier, mist and fog forming,

and colder, overnight temperatures in the low single figures.

On Sunday, some early mist, a chilly start, then turning

into a fine dry day with decent sunny spells, variable cloud,

you are taking part or watching Cardiff half marathon on Sunday.

It should stay dry with sunny spells.

So a mixed weekend, rain at times Saturday,

Monday should be largely fine and dry, but also breezier.

We will be back with our next update at around 5:20 tomorrow evening.

From all of us on the team, have a great