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Newport drug dealers who made £135,000 to repay just £1

Newport drug dealers who made £135,000 to repay just £1

Kyle Rudge, 35, and Chris Lord, 31, from Newport were jailed for three years and 32 months respectively in March.
The duo were back for a proceeds of crime hearing held at Newport Crown Court.
It emerged that Lord had benefitted by £78,727.33 while Rudge profited by £57,363.98.
Since both had no assets to their name which could be seized by police, the pair were ordered to pay a nominal sum of £1.
(Image: Kyle Rudge) They have to pay up or face another seven days in prison in default.
When they were sentenced earlier this year, the court heard that Rudge was directing Lord in their drugs operation.
Rudge was caught while officers were investigation another drug dealer.
They seized a mobile phone with drug related messages sent by Rudge.
(Image: Chris Lord) They included videos and pictures of a large stash of the cannabis.
This probe roped in his co-defendant whose details was saved under his nickname of 'Lordy.'
When police aided Lord's address last October they seized cannabis.
Rudge was arrested in November 2024 while driving his Seat Ibiza car on the M4 motorway.
Police seized two mobile phones found inside Rudge's vehicle and found incriminating evidence of the defendant being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
On top of the pictures and videos of the drugs, he was sending messages out on the different strains of cannabis he had on offer.
Lord's phone was also seized whereby there were messages dating back to 2022 that read, "got snow in", and him advertising various deal sizes.
Messages between the two defendants acted as evidence that Rudge was directing Lord in the street dealing of cannabis.
Lord admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis and possession of cannabis.
Rudge pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
After sentence, Detective Chief Inspector Matthew Edwards from Gwent Police said: 'During the operation, we recovered messages that showed evidence of Rudge and Lord's involvement in the supply of drugs.
'We established that Rudge was directing those under him to deal drugs and pick up cash on his behalf.
'Our investigation uncovered more than 100 pages of messages that showed Rudge's involvement in supplying cannabis.
'We also identified that Lord was running a drugs line, advertising the sale of cocaine and cannabis in the Newport area.
'Drugs fill our communities with misery, suffering and fear and people like Rudge and Lord prey upon the vulnerable in our society.
"These two criminals were only interested in the profits of their activities and did not care about the pain they caused.
'Intelligence we receive from the public is paramount as we combat drug gangs in Gwent, allowing us to bring people like Rudge and Lord to justice.'
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