A HABITUAL drug dealer from West Somerset who was part of a network in Exeter has been jailed for more than five years and seven months after his most recent conviction.

Wayne Pope, aged 45, of West Street, Minehead, appeared before Judge David Evans in Exeter Crown Court on September 25.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to supply across a seven-month period from the summer of 2024 to the spring of last year.

Pope was charged with possession of the class A drug with intent to supply on March 4, 2025, and with conspiracy to supply between August 7, 2024, and March 5, 2025.

Pope, who formerly owned a West Somerset window cleaning business for 19 years, had nearly 20 previous convictions and had previously served time in prison for drug dealing.

The court heard he was part of a significant local drug supply network operating across Exeter which was targeted by a police investigation known as ‘Operation Scorpion’, which saw all five Westcountry constabularies working together along with other forces, including British Transport Police and the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit.

A total of 27 people were arrested across Devon and Cornwall with £17,465 cash seized along with two guns and an imitation firearm and six other weapons.

Officers spent months gathering intelligence and surveilling the gang’s operations to map out how the class A drug was being transported to and distributed in the city.

Pope was eventually arrested on March 4 last year when police caught him in possession of a large quantity of cocaine.

Judge Evans, who took into account Pope’s guilty pleas which avoided a full trial being held, sentenced him to serve a total of five years and 219 days in prison.