A Brecon man has been jailed for five years and eight months for dealing drugs in the town.

Joel Jacobi, aged 27, of no fixed abode, was caught out after officers acted on a hunch after seeing him acting suspiciously in a layby and on the edge of a field off the B4520 outside Pwllgloyw village at around 2pm on Thursday, August 25.

At the time officers had nothing to go on but then at shortly after 10pm the same day a grey BMW was stopped by different officers in the village of Aber, near Talybont-on-Usk, with Jacobi in the passenger seat.

Both were suspected of being under the influence of drugs, and with 8.9 grams of cannabis in four separate packages found in the vehicle, Jacobi was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply.

Officers also seized iPhone in a clear case with a Chartered Banker business card in the sleeve, and £1,830.95 in cash.

While enquiries continued, Jacobi was released under investigation.

But believing there was more to his field sighting on August 25, officers and a police dog went to the site on the evening of Tuesday, September 6.

Following a search, the dog focused on what appeared to be blue paper towel near a fence.

Officers lifted the paper and found a green plastic bag containing smaller bags of white powder and a set of digital weighing scales.

Jacobi’s fingerprints would later be found on the bags, forensically linking him to the drugs, which were tested and found to be more than 122g of cocaine of purity ranging from 81 per cent to 84 per cent. The potential street value for this amount of cocaine would be in the region of £12,240 to £15,300.

The following day trail cameras were placed in the field where the package was found.

Then on Thursday, September 15 2022, the cameras captured two people, one of whom is believed to be Jacobi, entering the field in the area where the drugs were found and appearing to search the area.

At around 1.10pm on Wednesday, September 21 2022, Jacobi was further arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

During a search of the flat where he was arrested, in Cwrt Afon, Castle Street, Brecon, officers found 11.5g of cocaine, 2.39g of cannabis, more than £2,600 in cash and a set of digital weighing scales.

Superintendent Andrew Pitt said: “This case shows the efforts our officers will put in to get a good conviction.

“Jacobi was clearly dealing drugs on a fairly large level so we’re pleased with this result, which will see him spend a good amount of time behind bars.

“Stopping the people who spread misery in our communities by dealing drugs is a priority for our force so I would like to commend my investigators who worked tirelessly to secure the evidence to convict Jacobi.”

Jacobi was sentenced at Merthyr Crown Court on December 14 for cocaine and cannabis supply.