Five people have been sentenced for their role in the running of a £10 million cannabis factory in Northampton.
Officers discovered more than 3,400 plants at a rented warehouse in Brackmills, Northampton, in October 2014.
They then found a similar factory in Lincolnshire, while another 300 plants were uncovered during a raid in St James Park Road in Northampton in 2015.
It’s thought that the operation could have generated £10 million a year had it been allowed to continue.
Five people were sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday for a series of offences.
The five sentences handed out
- Dinesh Khetani, aged 33, of Brent, London, was found guilty to conspiracy to produce cannabis at the end of a trial in August. He was jailed for six years.
- Peter Brown, aged 28, of Stanford Le Hope, Thurrock, Essex, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce cannabis and was also jailed for six years.
- Kyle Nixon, aged 27, of Hoo, Rochester, Kent, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce cannabis and imprisoned for three years and four months.
- Warren Willsher, aged 27, of East Ham, London, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce cannabis and received a sentence of three years and four months.
- Nicola Bowers, aged 29, of Stanford Le Hope, Thurrock, Essex, pleaded guilty to money laundering. She was sentenced to four months suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 120 hours unpaid work.
Another defendant, 21-year-old, Duong Tuan Nguyen is due to be sentenced on Friday.
“This was a very large criminal enterprise that was capable of producing a vast quantity of cannabis,” Detective Constable Alex O’Meara said.
“Those involved travelled considerable distances to commit their crimes in an attempt to avoid detection. This case is a stark reminder that county borders are no longer a barrier to police investigations.
“It can be easy to dismiss cannabis production as a victimless crime, however, drug production is the first step towards more serious violent offences being committed in our neighbourhoods.
“More than £50,000 was paid by the group to rent the industrial units and police seized a further £60,000 in cash during searches of the defendants’ home addresses.
“The group deceived unsuspecting landlords through the use of forged documents to rent the premises involved.”
The gang had plans to sell cannabis online, with a weed for sale online website.