A MAN from Eardisley has been arrested as part of a police operation to deter the supply of cocaine and heroin in rural towns in Powys.

The force's Serious and Organised Crime Team and the National Crime Agency are working together to make arrests over the coming weeks.

The first warrant was carried out at a property on Hill Crest Rise in Llandrindod Wells last week.

Ryan Jolly, aged 37, of Canonford Avenue, Eardisley, was arrested outside a nearby property.

Anthony Andrew Byrne, aged 32, of Hill Crest Rise and Rebecca Lloyd, aged 34, of Hill Crest Rise were arrested during the warrant and taken into police custody.

Other warrants have been carried out throughout the week, which have led to the arrest of: David Peter Robert Brown, aged 34, of Little Weston, Montgomery; Clive Anthony Phillips, aged 44, of Builth Road, Builth Wells and Danielle Edith Wye, aged 28, of Pine Court, Newtown.

All have appeared at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’’ Courts charged with conspiracy to supply controlled Class A drugs and were all remanded in custody.

The arrests mark a significant stage of Operation Regent, the title given to a long and complex investigation targeting County Lines groups who are effectively drug suppliers who travel to Powys from elsewhere in the UK and set up business with local drug dealers to sell heroin and crack cocaine.

The County Lines groups tend to use a local property, generally belonging to a vulnerable person, sometimes drug users, as a base for their activities. This is known as 'cuckooing' and will often happen by force or coercion. Advice and support is being offered to any local vulnerable adults and teenagers exploited in order to maximise their profit from drug supply.

Powys Chief Inspector Matt Scrase, who is leading the operation, said: “It’s a complex scenario as some of our suspects are potentially also victims. They may be dependent on drugs, they may be vulnerable, and therefore a key part of our strategy to combat the problem we are facing is to work closely in partnership to offer support and advice to those people to help them turn their lives around, if they are willing to take the help on offer."

To report anything suspicious or concerns about the selling and taking of drugs in the community call 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.