15-05-2025
Drug courier posing as carer transported drugs from London to Wales
Drug courier posing as carer transported drugs from London to Wales
Carla Trace, 44, was found to have benefited by £10,000 after driving to London to pick up 5kg of cocaine before transporting it back to Wales.
Carla Trace, 43, of Cardiff, picked up 5kg of cocaine from London and drove it back to Wales.
(Image: South Wales Police )
A drugs courier who transported 5kg of cocaine to Wales while wearing a carer uniform during the Covid pandemic has been ordered to pay back just £1 after benefiting from by £10,000. She drove to London and back in order to pick up the class A drugs before stopping at an address in Cardiff.
Carla Trace, 44, drove a hired Nissan Juke to London on April 5, 2020 to pick up 5kg of cocaine before stopping at an address in Fairwater. She was later arrested on April 23.
The defendant was a member of an organised crime gang (OCG) run by Luke Mattan, 36, and his number two Saswall Abdullah, 27. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter.
Both men were involved in the supply of 12kg of cocaine. They were also involved with Joseph Thomas-Mullen, 49, a member of an Liverpool OCG based in south Wales who would collect debt money from Mattan on behalf of an upstream supplier.
Luke Mattan, 35, of Cardiff, was involved in the supply of 12kg of cocaine.
(Image: South Wales Police )
In April 2020 an arrangement was made for Luke Mattan to purchase 5kg of cocaine for £195,000 from Thomas-Mullen and the upstream supplier.
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Mattan was also given two keyworker certificates to be used by his couriers, including Trace, in case they should be stopped by the police during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Luke Mattan was arrested on June 17, 2020, Thomas-Mullen on July 17, 2020 at Cardiff Airport upon returning from Malaga, and Abdullah on July 22, 2020. Luke Mattan's siblings, Kirsty Mattan, 34, and Jordan Mattan, 32, were also involved in the enterprise as couriers.
Saswal Abdullah
(Image: South Wales Police )
In April 2020, Kirsty Mattan collected £14,480 on behalf of her brother. She also acted as a courier by delivering money and a gram of cocaine to Thomas-Mullen.
Trace, of Clos Y Faenor, Danescourt, Cardiff, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs following a trial. She was sentenced to seven years imprisonment at a sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court last year.
At a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing on Wednesday heard Trace benefited to the tune of £10,000 as a result of her offending but has no available assets.
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Judge Shomon Khan ordered the defendant to pay a nominal sum of £1 within three months or serve an additional seven days imprisonment in default.
