A heroin and crack dealer who built a vast network to flood the South Wales valleys with illegal drugs from his hotel room has been jailed.

Louis Ferguson, 26, from Clapham, would travel to Wales daily to supply the area, using a hotel in Cardiff as the base of his operation.

Over a six month period from October last year to this spring Ferguson developed a supply network by identifying drug users from the across the South Wales valleys and using them to reference in new customers.

His operation came crashing down after a covert police operation tracked him to a drug deal taking place in Treforest, near Pontypridd on March 7.

Ferguson and an accomplice were arrested and his car, a blue Hyundai was seized.

More than 30 street deals of heroin and crack cocaine along with cash and other incriminating evidence were found in the central console of the car.

The investigation subsequently led officers to the Ibis Hotel in Cardiff Gate, Pontprennau where they found more than £7000 worth of heroin and a significant amount of cash.

Appearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday Ferguson was jailed for five years.

DCI Andy Valentine, head of crime for South Wales Police's Northern division said: "Louis Ferguson saw South Wales, and in particular, the communities of Rhondda Cynon Taff as a lucrative market for trafficking controlled drugs."

"He travelled to the region on a weekly basis using a local hotel as a base for his illicit operations.

"Over several months, Ferguson identified and exploited drugs users for his own gains and developed a market for heroin and crack cocaine.

"He used the desperation of drug addiction to build a network of local contacts that encouraged and endorsed his product to other drugs users."