The court heard the watch was “clearly brought into the prison by someone”
04:33, 26 Apr 2026
Gang boss Ryan Morgan benefited from his criminal conduct to the tune of £403,000 (Image: Tarian)
A designer watch worth around £13,000 was smuggled into prison for the head of an organised crime group who had been arrested and remanded into custody, a court has heard.
Ryan Morgan was the boss of a gang which trafficked huge quantities of cocaine from the West Midlands to south west Wales and which used safe houses and lock-up garages around Swansea and Skewen as operational bases where they stored and processed the coke before distributing it on the streets.
Morgan was arrested as he sat in a barber’s chair having his facial hair shaved off in a bid to change his appearance after he realised the net was closing in on him. He was subsequently sentenced to 16 years in prison for conspiracy to supply cocaine and money laundering.
The defendant returned to the dock of Swansea Crown Court for a hearing to determine prosecution applications for seizure of assets under Proceeds of Crime Act or Poca powers, and the imposition of serious crime prevention order.
The court heard that it is agreed by all parties that Morgan benefited from his criminal conduct to the tune of £403,321 but an order could not be made due to issues about the ownership of a £13,000 Rolex watch which the prosecution has identified as an available asset but which a third party claims ownership of. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter
Roger Griffiths, for the prosecution, said the watch “did not go into custody” with Morgan when he was arrested but it was subsequently found on him while he was on remand in prison. He said: “It was clearly brought into the prison by someone. We say it was a gift to him. Now they are trying to retract the gift to avoid proceeds of crime biting”.
Dr Andreas O’Shea, for Morgan, said as far as his client was concerned matters between the defendant and the prosecution in regard to proceeds of crime were settled and the outstanding issue was between the prosecution and the third party asserting a claim over the watch.
A hearing will now be set to hear evidence about the ownership of the designer timepiece before any Poca orders can be made.
At the hearing judge Catherine Richards agreed to an application by the prosecution that Morgan be subject to a serious crime prevention order upon his release custody. The order sets limits on how many banks accounts, phones, and vehicles Morgan can own, and how much cash he can have on him at any one time. The defendant will be required to notify police about the details of phones and bank accounts and must allow officers to inspect them, and he must notify police about the details of the vehicle he drives.
Judge Richards said she was satisfied there was a serious risk that Morgan would commit further serious offences in the future – in particular supplying controlled drugs – and said a serious crime prevention order and the “interference with freedom of actions” it entails was necessary and justified to restrict or disrupt such involvement.
Morgan will be subject to the serious crime prevention order for a period of five years upon his release.
The Morgan gang was taken down thanks to an investigation by Tarian, the southern Wales serious organised crime unit. Operation Bluebird, which began in October 2022, included carrying out covert surveillance on a number of properties and domestic garages including ones on New Road in Skewen, and Penbryn Terrace in Brynmill in Swansea, as well as a lock-up unit on Grandison Street in the Hafod area of Swansea. Undercover officers also trailed suspected gang members as they moved around south Wales and beyond.
The investigation showed that Ryan Morgan and his younger brother Leon were at the head of the operation and had connections with organised crime groups in the Midlands. Police were able to track the movements of cars and people between Swansea and the Midlands as well as during trips to Newport for meetings between those involved in the cross-border trafficking conspiracy.
The beginning of the end for the gang’s operations came on July 13, 2023, when police tracked the movements of a recovery lorry as it was driven from Swansea to an Asda supermarket car park in Coventry where a car was loaded onto the back before it returned to south Wales. Police intercepted the transporter in Bonymaen in Swansea, and in the car on the back of the recovery truck police found 7kg of high-purity cocaine.
Word of the police actions “got out very quickly” and officers began executing search warrants at target houses and garages to arrest suspected gang members. In December police tried to arrest Ryan Morgan in the Hafod area of Swansea but he escaped after ramming police vehicles with his Range Rover – the 4×4 mounted the bonnet of one of the cop cars as he made good his escape.
The gang boss was subsequently arrested in a barber’s shop where he was trying to change his appearance by having facial hair shaved off.
Ryan Morgan, aged 32, of Clwyd Road, Penlan, Swansea; Leon Morgan, aged 27, of Y Llanerch, Pontlliw, Swansea; Thomas Saunders, aged 23, of Eigin Cresceent, Mayhill, Swansea; Jack Tomkins. aged 24, of Elan Avenue, Clase, Swansea; Gino Shergill, aged 32, from Romford Road, Coventry; Kenny Peters, aged 44, of no fixed abode; and 35-year-old Nicky Davies of Pentregethin Road, Ravenhill, Swansea, pleaded guilty to or were convicted at trial of conspiracy to supply cocaine. The Morgan siblings also pleaded guilty to money laundering, and Ryan Morgan pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.
Ryan Morgan was sentenced to 16 years in prison; Leon Morgan to 10 years; Saunders to seven years and 10 months; Tomkins to seven years and one month; Shergill to five years years and 10 months; Peters to six-and-a-half years and Davies to five years and two months.
