Man found with thousands of 'Donkey Kong' tablets made more than £140k but must pay back £1
Tyrell Germaine, 29, made nine trips to the Box Hotel in Newport along with his father Jamie Germaine, 52, and his brother Shaquille Germaine, 27
Tyrell Germaine, 29, was found in possession of thousands of MDMA tablets
(Image: Gwent Police )
A man who made multiple trips to a hotel where an organised crime gang was based has been ordered to pay back just £1 despite benefiting by more than £140,000. Class A drugs worth £135,000 including thousands of MDMA tablets were later seized from the hotel.
Tyrell Germaine, 29, made nine trips to the Box Hotel in Newport along with his father Jamie Germaine, 52, and his brother Shaquille Germaine, 27. Hotel manager Ihtesham Ali Hassan, 46, facilitated the conspiracy which saw heroin, cocaine and MDMA stored at the hotel and its sister hotel, the Box Guest House.
Drug couriers based at the hotel would travel throughout the UK delivering and collecting huge quantities of drugs and cash. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter.
Messages later found on Shaquille Germaine's phone showed he had been involved in selling huge amounts of MDMA tablets, with photos and videos showing thousands of tablets branded with Donkey Kong.
On June 15, 2023 all three of the Germaines travelled to the Box Hotel but upon returning to Cardiff they were stopped by police in their car on the A48 in Marshfield.
Tyrell Germaine told the officers there was a bag of class A drugs in the back.
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A search of the vehicle revealed a Lidl bag containing five packages containing 4,553 MDMA tablets. The drugs were worth between £13,599 and £45,330.
Hassan, of Cefn Coed Road, Roath, Cardiff, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine and MDMA.
Jamie Germaine, of HMP Parc, Shaquille Germaine and Tyrell Germaine, both of Pepys Crescent, Llanrumney, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply MDMA. Shaquille Germaine also pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of MDMA.
Hassan was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment.
Jamie Germaine was sentenced to seven years and four months imprisonment.
Shaquille Germaine was sentenced to seven years and six months imprisonment.
Tyrell Germaine was sentenced to four years and two months imprisonment.
At a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday heard Tyrell Germaine benefited to the tune of £140,993 as a result of his offending but has no available assets.
Judge Jeremy Jenkins ordered the defendant to pay a nominal sum of £1.
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