A drug dealer who boasted he made £800 a day has been jailed for seven years.

Louis Henri Thomas, 29, was a significant foot soldier in a criminal gang headed by jailed leader Jamie Smith, the court heard.

Thomas was one of a number of people snared as part of Isle of Man Constabulary’s Operation Nightjar targeting street dealers following an undercover operation in the summer of 2023.

He was also recorded speaking to Smith in a hotel room bugged by police during which he was heard boasting about making £800 a day by selling cocaine on the streets.

Despite being arrested for these offences and granted bail, he absconded during which he then tried to collect a parcel from the Post Office sorting office.

That parcel was later found to contain nearly a kilo of cannabis.

Thomas, care of the Isle of Man Prison, appeared at the Court of General Gaol Delivery on Monday for sentencing having previously admitted all the offences.

Roger Kane, prosecuting, told the hearing that undercover police officers who made enquiries about cocaine within the island’s nighttime economy were directed to Thomas by others.

He met them on King Street in Douglas on August 18, 2023 where he sold them a wrap of cocaine weighing 0.4g.

The next day they met up again and he sold them another wrap for £150 and then he did the same again on August 26 that year.

As part of Operation Vineyard – an operation aimed at tackling organised crime – police bugged a hotel room booked out by Smith. Between October 17 and November 20, 2023, Thomas was recorded entering the room on a number of occasions and was heard boasting about the amount of money he makes dealing cocaine.

The recordings also heard Smith tell Thomas to collect 1.25kg of cocaine and break it down into smaller quantities.

Mr Kane said: ‘Thomas was a trusted seller within this crime group although his role was as a street seller.’

He was arrested and charged in relation to the cocaine dealing and being concerned in dealing the class A drug.

He was bailed but later absconded during which he ended up in further hot water.

Staff at the Post Office flagged up a suspicious package on January 29, 2025 which was later found to contain 898g of cannabis with a street value of £17,966.

A dummy package was created, and Thomas came to pick it up on January 31 and he was arrested.

In mitigation, advocate Paul Glover said that in relation to picking up the package, Thomas was ‘cannon fodder’ and was not the person set to benefit from what was inside.

He also said the claim he earnt £800 a day was a boast by Thomas with no material evidence to suggest he ever made that much.

He asked Deemster Graeme Cook to take into account his early guilty pleas and added: ‘While in prison my client has had a period of time to reflect and change his ways.’

Deemster Cook expressed his frustration the level of drug dealing in the Isle of Man.

He told Thomas: ‘You were making substantial amounts from drug dealing. It brings misery to many individuals and families and the police are trying to stop this. Crime does not pay and this has to stop.’

Thomas was handed five years and six months in jail for being concerned in the supply of cocaine and concurrent sentences of one year for each offence of dealing cocaine. He was handed a further 18 months in custody consecutively for attempting to import cannabis.