THE HEAD of an organised crime group who posed as a property developer to run a cannabis farm at a disused nightclub in Coventry has been jailed for more than six years.
Roman Le, 38, from Birmingham, headed a gang who operated a multi-million pound network of at least eight cannabis factories staffed by illegal migrants across the Midlands, the North West and north Lincolnshire.
Le sourced the properties by buying or renting them, in some cases putting up scaffolding around the buildings to make it look like building work was taking place.
Le worked with fellow gang members Yihao Feng, aged 29, from Manchester, and David Qayumi, aged 36, from Birmingham, to source and operate the properties.
Among them was the former Big Bamboo nightclub in Coventry which police raided in 2020 after National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators watched Le visit the building.
They had to smash through several reinforced doors to get inside, where they found around 1,500 cannabis plants, worth more than £1million, spread across three floors.
Officers also recovered sophisticated planting, growing and irrigation equipment, valued at around £150,000.
The electricity supply at the property had been bypassed, with the equipment inside directly and illegally connected to the commercial supply from the street outside.
Overall, the gang’s farms were capable of making millions of pounds worth of cannabis.
Many of the farms were staffed by Vietnamese or Albanian illegal migrants, some of whom were likely being exploited because of their immigration status.
Qayumi posed as a businessman, working with Le to buy, rent or sub-let the properties, while Feng acted as an ‘operations manager’ for the group, making sure the factories kept working and that what was happening inside was kept a secret.
Le was arrested at his home in Essex Street, Birmingham, in November 2020.
Both Feng and Qayumi pleaded guilty to conspiring to produce cannabis, but Le denied the charge, claiming he was a legitimate businessman who had no knowledge that the properties he had interests in were being used for cannabis grows.
He was found guilty following an eight-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court in June. He was sentenced on July 30.
In early July, Feng and Qayumi were handed prison sentences totalling six-and-a-half years.
NCA Senior Investigating Officer Paul Boniface said: “The cannabis factories operated by Roman Le’s gang produced drugs worth millions, often staffed by migrants who had arrived here illegally and were being forced to work to pay off their debt to people smugglers.
“He claimed to be a legitimate businessman, but in reality he was lining his own pockets off the back of the exploitation of others less fortunate than him.
“Working with policing partners we were able to target and dismantle this organised criminal operation, and those involved are now rightfully behind bars.
“Gangs like this are helping fuel an industry that sees people transported into the UK in life-threatening ways in boats or lorries, which is why taking action against them is so important for the NCA.”
