A teenage dealer took a selfie with a caption boasting about how easy it was to make money selling drugs in Wales, a court has heard.

William Martin Clift also wrote on Facebook that prison was for "murderers, rapists and paedophiles not hard-working drug dealers".

But after being caught the 19-year-old is now starting a stretch of two years and four months behind bars.

Swansea Crown Court heard the teenager was working for an organised crime gang in the Birmingham area and had been dispatched to Wales to sell drugs for them – a phenomenon known as county lines drug dealing .

Tom Scapens, prosecuting, said on October 29 last year police officers were conducting high-visibility foot patrols in the Melin area of Neath .

A PC and PCSO were chatting to a resident near Pendrill Street when Clift emerged from an alleyway. Mr Scapens said the teen appeared to be "taken by surprise" to see the officers and abruptly turned around and ran off.

The officers went after him and chased him to a house in nearby Brookdale Street. The court heard police followed him into the property and found the teenager in the kitchen of the property where on the floor was a machete.

Mr Scapens said the teenager was grabbed and handcuffed and when told he was going to be searched replied: "Ah f*** it. I've got drugs on me."

When police searched the defendant they found 24 cocaine deals in individual wraps, another larger wrap of almost three grams of the drug, two mobile phones, £155 in cash, a train ticket from Birmingham to Neath, and a quantity of Xanax tablets in a Prada bag.

The prosecutor said the teenager indicated to police that he had "plugged" – hidden in his anus – a further quantity of drugs and he was taken to Morriston Hospital .

At the hospital he refused to cooperate with staff or take laxatives and after a two-day stay it was determined he did not in fact have any drugs hidden internally.

Mr Scapens said police believed the teenager had told them he had plugged drugs in order to delay their investigation.

However in hospital police did discover he was wearing a second pair of trousers under the outer pair they had already searched and in the pocket of this second pair they found £1,185 in cash. The court heard the notes were later analysed and found to have high traces of heroin.

What is county lines?

County lines is when criminals from major cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, London and Birmingham expand their drug networks to other areas of the country. This activity brings violence, exploitation and abuse to rural communities.

The crime is so-called because a single telephone number is used to order drugs, operated from outside the area, across county lines.

County line networks are having a massive impact on rural counties. Vulnerable children and adults are being recruited in our large cities to transport cash and drugs all over the country. This keeps the true criminals behind it detached from the act and less likely to be detected or caught.

These gangs often set up a base in a rural area for a short time, taking over the home of a vulnerable person (also known as "cuckooing"). They then use adults and children to act as drug runners.

The increase in activity around county lines is also believed to have contributed to the rise in knife crime.

An examination of Clift's phones revealed a selfie he had taken with a smiley face emoji and a caption saying: "All I know we made a killing when we went [to] Wales".

Also on his phone police recovered a "large number of messages" relating to drug dealing over the previous two months and a "dealer's checklist" showing he was owed £3,225 for drugs he had supplied.

Police subsequently found a Facebook post by the defendant in which he said "prison is for murderers, rapists and paedophiles not hard-working drug dealers". He also seemingly mocked police, saying they were "dull as f***".

Clift, of Stuart Road, Halesowen, Dudley, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply and supplying cocaine and heroin when he appeared in the dock for sentencing on Monday. The prosecutor said he had "no idea" why the defendant had not also been charged with the possession of the Class C Xanax tablets.

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The court heard Clift and the other people inside the house in Brookdale Street had all denied the machete found in their property was theirs and it was not possible to attribute ownership and therefore charge anyone. The defendant has previous convictions for battery and theft from a dwelling.

Helen Randall, for Cleft, said her client was not himself a drug user but had got into dealing after "falling in with the wrong people" and saw it as a "means to make money".

She said the fact he had answered bail and travelled from the West Midlands to face the hearing knowing he was going into custody showed a level of maturity which he had previously not demonstrated in his "arrogant" selfies and social media posts.

Judge Geraint Walters said it was clear the teenager had been sent to Neath by a criminal gang in Birmingham and had been using the Melin property as a "hideout" and base for his drug dealing.

He told Clift it appeared he had treated the selling of drugs as a "job" and his motivation was greed. He said the teenager had given no thought to the damage he was doing.

William Clift is now beginning a spell behind bars
William Clift is now beginning a spell behind bars

Judge Walters told the defendant: "No good comes from supplying Class A drugs. Heroin in particular wrecks the lives of those taking it – the only guarantee is an early death.

"It also blights the communities where these hopeless and pathetic individuals wander the streets in a zombie-like state while decent people try to get on with their lives.

"You contributed to that. You did it out of greed, not caring for the misery you were inflicting upon others. You need seriously to reflect upon the path your life is taking you."

He also said the presence of the machete in the Neath house demonstrated the link between knife crime and drugs trade.

The judge sentenced Clift to two years and four months in custody and ordered the money found on the defendant be given to South Wales Police to help in the fight against drugs.