A drugs kingpin from Birmingham posing as a property developer was actually the head of an organised crime gang capable of producing millions of pounds worth of cannabis.
Roman Le, who is originally from Vietnam but is now a British citizen based in Essex Street, was the mastermind behind cannabis operations which ran out of derelict clubs and pubs in Birmingham, Solihull, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Coventry, Lancashire and Lincolnshire.
On one occasion, while Le and his gang were under surveillance, officers watched Le park his Bentley Continental outside the former Big Bamboo nightclub in Coventry before heading inside.
READ MORE: Cannabis farm ‘mastermind’ from Birmingham used illegal immigrants to staff grows
The site was later raided by the NCA and West Midlands Police, with 1500 cannabis plants, worth more than £1 million, found spread across three floors.
Le sourced properties across the West Midlands by posing as a property developer.
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He worked with co-defendants David Qayumi, aged 36, originally from Afghanistan, but now a legal resident and Yihao Feng, aged 29, originally from China but now a British citizen, to source and operate the properties.
In some cases, scaffolding was put up around the buildings, making it look like building work was taking place.
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.
The NCA said most of the farms were staffed by Vietnamese or Albanian illegal migrants, some of whom were likely being exploited because of their immigration status.
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.Following an eight-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court, on 5 June he was found guilty. Le was remanded in custody, and all three men will be sentenced on July 4.
Read the full story of how all three men ran a cannabis empire capable of producing millions of pounds worth of cannabis in our report, here.
CA Branch Commander Kevin Broadhead said: “Roman Le claimed he was a legitimate property developer, but in actual fact he fronted an organised crime gang capable of producing millions of pounds worth of cannabis.
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“While he and his co-conspirators oversaw these operations, buying and renting properties on behalf of the growers and reaping the profits, the actual people put to work in them were often exploited migrants who had been smuggled into the UK.“Working with policing partners we were able to prove these men were involved a sophisticated criminal enterprise.”
Roman Le claimed he was a legitimate property developer in Birmingham, but actually fronted an organised crime gang capable of producing millions of pounds worth of cannabis Read More
