An organised crime gang teamed up with a crooked utilities firm to protect a £21 million cannabis operation that stretched from Dundee to Portsmouth.
Eight men from England were jailed for a combined 28 years for the scheme that saw electricity supplies diverted to 100 cannabis farms.
While the operation was sophisticated in nature, it did not stop one of the hapless criminals, a director of the firm called Elev8, burning his head in an explosion.
The Wigan and Liverpool-based company had workers in hi-vis close roads to dig up roads and divert power supplies to houses, warehouses and disused shops that were being used to store cannabis farms.
The Crown Prosecution Service in England revealed the operation spanned 32 police forces areas, including in Scotland.
Many of the cannabis farms were occupied by Albanian nationals, who had come to the UK illegally to act as gardeners.
While it was confirmed the gang had operated in Dundee, no specific details of their Scottish operations were released.
A number of Albanian nationals have received lengthy prison sentences from sheriffs in Tayside and Fife in recent months.
Gang jailed
At Liverpool Crown Court, Elev8 company directors Ross McGinn and Andrew Roberts were locked up, as were workers Graham Roberts, Greg Black, Lewin Charles, Aidan Doran, Jack Sherry and Colin White.
All of the men were from the north-west of England.
James Allison, a senior Crown prosecutor, said: “These men were involved in helping organised crime gangs to produce cannabis by cutting into the electricity mains to provide the supply to various premises.
“They used a legitimate company as cover and pretended to be contractor’s working on utilities.
“They were a vital part in assisting organised crime to set up large numbers of cannabis farms all over UK.
“The pretence of being genuine workmen digging up the road and repairing utilities was the perfect disguise.
“But they were working with and for Albanian nationals and other gangs to assist with the setup of cannabis farms by interfering with the mains electricity to power the farms.
“The term ‘professional enablers’ for organised crime describes their involvement.
“The work they did to divert the electricity was described by a professional electrical inspector as poor and often dangerous.
“They no doubt thought they would get away with their criminal operation but they were wrong and are now behind bars.”
Cannabis farms local growth
The Courier has covered 26 Albanian nationals convicted of growing or transporting cannabis worth more than £6,500,000 in Tayside and Fife since 2018, receiving prison sentences totalling 49 years.
387 plants were discovered in the former Ardler Sports and Recreation Club in Dundee in February 2023, three weeks after a cultivation of almost 650 plants was found in a stately Broughty Ferry home.
Around 250 plants were seized by police who raided the former Forfar swimming baths in August 2023 and more than 350 more were soon uncovered in neighbouring cottages deep in the Sidlaw hills.
Another cultivation worth £550,000 was found in adjoining vacant shop units on Arbroath High Street in September 2023.
A £2.3m cultivation spread across properties in Dundee’s Lorne Street and Ash Street was uncovered last January.
Albanian-run cannabis farms have also been shut down around Fife, with farmers being sentenced for their roles in cultivations in Kirkcaldy, Kinghorn, Leven, Steelend, Oakley and Cowdenbeath.
These included a £760,000 cultivation in a former bathroom shop and cultivations in a disused tanning salon, a farm building and within converted domestic homes.
Two more Albanian mules were pulled over by police on the A9 near the Broxden roundabout with 22kg of the Class B drug in January 2023.
Most of these men entered the UK illegally and have primarily been first offenders, but include criminals who have amassed convictions in Italy, Switzerland and England.
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