Ten men are facing jail for turning a travellers camp built with a £3m grant from the Welsh Government into a giant cannabis plantation.
Half of the 24 caravans at their newly-renovated gypsy camp in Merthyr Tydfil were used as cover for a sophisticated drugs-growing operation worth up to £340,000 a year, a court heard.
Their Glynmill Gypsy and Traveller Site had been given a £3m grant of public money for improvements including community hall, toilet blocks and landscaping.
But a court was told a police swoop, with more than 100 officers and 30 vehicles, discovered the camp was home to a “highly lucrative” cannabis farm.
'Production of cannabis worth between £90,000 and £340,000'
Prosecutor Ieuan Morris said: “This was an organised group involved in the production of cannabis worth between £90,000 and £340,000.”
Ten men – including eight living at the Glynmill camp in Merthyr Tydfil – confessed to their part in the hidden cannabis plantation.
Police including the National Crime Agency mounted Operation Red Lava to crack down on the gang. Riot police and horses were used in the swoop to uncover the cannabis growing in caravans.
Mr Morris said: “In the raid on the three-acre site in February last year they discovered cannabis plants being grown with sophisticated hydroponic systems.
“Cannabis plants of various stages of growth were recovered as was the paraphernalia associated with large scale production.
“This was a joint enterprise, each playing a part and each knowing the nature of the operation.”
Police recovered 453 plants
Police recovered 453 plants, including a mother plant from which all other plants were grown. The drugs were in 12 of the 24 plots on the site which was home for up to 120 people.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard some of the travellers were paying the site manager up to £40 a day in electricity tokens to power the cannabis plantation.
Andrew Jakes, 36, Adam Jones, 23, Barry Jones, 34, Brinnie Mochan, 18, Peter Gilheaney, 18, Steven Francis Gilheaney, 33, Martin Gilheaney, 27, and Peter Patrick Gilheaney, 27, all of Glynmill Caravan Site, admitted conspiracy to produce cannabis and cannabis production.
Another two – Edward Probert, 27, of Pontypool, and William Henry Williams, 20, of Merthyr Tydfil – also pleaded guilty to the same charges.
But another four living at the site were cleared when their trial collapsed after the businessman who owns the camp refused to give evidence in court.
Owner Craig William Bennett was awarded the £3m from the Welsh Government in three grants between 2011 and 2014 to improve the camp with three toilets blocks, community hall and own school at the site.
The court heard Bennett then rented the site back to the local council who provided the camp for the travellers.
"I had no idea what was going on"
Bennett was due to be a key witness in the trial but failed to appear at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court and wrote to the prosecution saying he wasn’t going to come.
Father-of-four Bennett refused to take the stand in court after being called as a witness.
He was then prosecuted for contempt of court after the trial collapsed.
He said: “I had no idea what was going on. I had never smelled cannabis. I had an accident seven years ago and can’t smell anything. I would not know what it smelled like anyway.”
Mr Bennett confirmed he was given a £3m grant from the Welsh Government to renovate the site but said he also put in £200,000 of his own money.
He was fined £500 for contempt of court by the judge and warned he will be jailed for 14 days if he refuses to pay up.
Judge Richard Twomlow said: “You deliberately failed to attend a trial involving a lot of people. That trial could not go ahead because of that failure.”
Among the four cleared was £450-a-week site manager William Gilheaney, 51, who said he had no idea of the large scale cannabis operation.
The court heard cannabis was being grown either side of his rent-free caravan.
The 10 men who pleaded guilty will be sentenced later for their roles in the secret cannabis site.
see-http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/ten-men-facing-jail-after-11471349
No comments:
Post a Comment