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There has been a bumper crop of cannabis farms busted in Wales this year. Over the last 12 months police have uncovered commercial cultivation operations across the country utilising everything from a disused swimming pool to an old newspaper office and a large house in a leafy well-to-do suburb. The combined value of farms runs into many millions of pounds.
Many of these large-scale operations are set up and run by organised criminal gangs who use the profits made from the cannabis trade to fund other kinds of criminal activity. Many of the gangs have close with links to international people smugglers who bring people into the UK – for a price.
Here are some of the largest cannabis farms found in Wales in 2024 along with some of ways police found the farms and some of the faces and stories of those caught tending the crops. The gangs responsible for organising and running the plantations remain unknown and seemingly beyond the reach of the law. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter here.
The one in a busy town centre street
Inside the Carmarthen property
(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
In October police found a huge cannabis farm worth hundreds of thousands of pounds hidden in plain sight one of Carmarthen‘s busiest streets. When officers raided a property in King Street they discovered 930 cannabis plants growing in a large hydroponic set-up. The estimated street value of the plants seized was £870,000.
Dyfed-Powys Police detective sergeant Richard Saunders said: “The local community can help us by continuing to report any signs of cannabis cultivation including distinctive aroma coming from a property and noises from ventilation fans, blacked-out windows to avoid detection, people and vehicles coming and going at odd hours, bright lights on continuously even though the property appears to be vacant, lots of condensation on windows, unusual wiring to a property as it may be the electricity meters have been bypassed, garden rubbish such as plant pots, fertiliser, compost, and chemicals. Any bit of information, no matter how small it may seem, could help make a big difference.”
The one four doors away from a police station
The former Co-op store in Newcastle Emlyn where police found a large cannabis-growing operation
(Image: Google)
In November police in Newcastle Emlyn executed a search warrant close to home four doors down from the town’s police station. Inside the former Co-op shop building they found more than 400 cannabis plants and associated growing equipment.
The one in an old school
Inside the Llandysul cannabis farm
(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
A £2m cannabis operation was uncovered in a former village school after police intercepted two men on a drugs run. When officers stopped a car in Carmarthen they found two men and five suitcases stuffed with harvested cannabis. Inquiries led back to a former school building in Marble Terrace in Llandysul, Ceredigion, where around 1,500 cannabis plants in various stages of growth were discovered growing across two storeys. The sophisticated drug production set-up also included a number of CCTV cameras installed around the building. Police estimate the total street value of the cannabis bud and plants seized during the raid would have been up to £1,960,000.
The ones giving off so much heat they were spotted by a helicopter
Police forcing entry to one of the properties
(Image: South Wales Police)
Police in Neath town centre found two large-scale cannabis-growing operations on neighbouring streets after distinctive “heat signatures” coming from the properties were picked up by a helicopter. South Wales Police and British Transport Police officers executed search warrants at the terraced houses in Richmond Street and Osborne Street and seized cannabis plants worth around £126,000. South Wales Police inspector Ryan Davies said the dismantling of the cannabis operations was “a significant disruption of illegal drug activity”.
The one in a former building society
Arlind Vata
(Image: South Wales Police)
When an engineer made a routine call to the former Halifax building society in Holton Road in Barry he found a sophisticated cannabis-growing operation spread across three floors with one room being used as living quarters with a mattress, fridge, and basic amenities. Also in the property was 23-year-old Albanian national Arlind Vata. A total of 174 plants were recovered from the property with an estimated value to £78,000. Newport Crown Court heard Vata had entered the UK illegally by boat in 2021 and had initially worked in construction until he found himself in debt to a gang which took him to the vacant building society branch to work. Vata was sentenced to nine months in prison.
The one in an abandoned swimming pool
The Maindee Pools building in Newport
(Image: Google)
A “substantial and sophisticated” cannabis factory with 1,300 plants at various levels of maturity worth up to £600,000 was discovered at the disused Maindee Pools swimming pool in Newport. The set-up included power transformers, air filters, ducts, fans, and dozens of LED lights. Albanian national Adrian Boci, who was working as a gardener at the operation, fled the building as police forced entry and after a chase through neighbouring back gardens was caught and arrested. The 27-year-old was sentenced to eight months in prison.
The one in an old pub
The George in Pontypool
(Image: Savills/Rightmove)
A cannabis farm boasting more than than 400 plants was found in the former George pub in Commercial Street in Pontypool on Valentine Day’s following concerns raised by locals about the smell coming from the listed building. Two men – Saimir Begu, aged 24, and 20-year-old Rugen Xhaferaj – were arrested at the scene and later sentenced to 31 weeks and 30 weeks behind bars respectively.
Speaking after the sentencing Gwent Police constable Danielle Lundrigan, the officer in the case, said: “We continue to ask anyone with any information or concerns about drug dealing or supply in their community to get in touch with us. We’re committed to protecting our communities from drugs and the associated crime around supply, all of which can have a devastating impact on people’s lives, their communities, and local businesses. Every cannabis factory we dismantle helps to prevent a vicious cycle of crime. By disrupting the source of the operations the plants are stopped from an onward sale into our communities and the profits are prevented from going on to fund other crime.”
The one in a leafy suburban street
Sandringham Terrace in Roath, Cardiff
(Image: Google)
A cannabis farm worth around £500,000 was found in a house on a well-to-do Cardiff street after a distinctive smell was detected. When officers raided the property in Sandringham Road in Roath they found a “professional set-up” spread over seven rooms with a total of 674 plants. Officers also found Albanian national Markelian Koxha. Cardiff Crown Court heard the 27-year-old entered the UK illegally in 2020 and was jailed in 2023 after being found working in another cannabis planation. He told the court he owed the gang who brought him into the UK £30,000 and he felt pressured to act as a “gardener” to repay the debt. His barrister told the court her client had grown up in rural Albania and had come to the UK for a “better life” but now wished to return home to work legally and pay off his debt. Koxha was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
The one in an abandoned Woolworths shop
Cannabis ‘gardener’ Armando Beti was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison
(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
When police forced entry to the former Woolworths store in Dimond Street in Pembroke Dock they found a “large cannabis set-up” spread over three first-floor rooms with extractor fans, ducting, lights, and dehumidifiers. Officers recovered a total of 594 cannabis plants in various stages of maturity from nursery plants up to plants on the verge of harvest. Officers also found the electricity meter to the building had been bypassed.
Armando Beti was arrested after using a fire escape to get onto the roof of the building and trying to make off. Swansea Crown Court that in 2022 the defendant was sentenced to 14 months in prison after being caught working at a huge cannabis farm of more than 2,000 plants being run in an old sports and social club in Roath in Cardiff. He was released early from that sentence when he agreed to be sent back to Albania and in August 2022 he was deported. However in August 2023 he was found hiding under a blanket in a lorry entering the UK by ferry and was sentenced to 16 months in prison at Canterbury Crown Court for entering the country in breach of a deportation order. He was subsequently released on licence from that sentence then disappeared before turning up in west Wales. His barrister said the defendant now wants to go home to his wife. Beti was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.
The one on an industrial estate
Inside the commercial unit in the Heads of the Valleys Industrial Estate
(Image: Gwent Police)
Police found more than 2,000 cannabis plants and associated lights and other growing equipment when they raided a unit on the Heads of the Valley Industrial State in Rhymney, Caerphilly, in February.
The one in a former restaurant and pub
Criminals found a new use for the once-popular Mountain Gate
(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
When police raided the former Mountain Gate restaurant and pub in the village of Tycroes just outside Ammanford they uncovered a “large hydroponic set-up” consisting of more than 800 plants at various stages of maturity with associated growing equipment. Officers found a coffee machine and a lukewarm cup of coffee in the living quarters and subsequently found Albanian national Beni Mirashi hiding in the attic. Swansea Crown Court heard the defendant entered the UK illegally in 2023 and, unable to work legally, he became “an easy target for the gangs that operate these kind of operations”. The 26-year-old was sentenced to 22 months in prison.
The one in a former newspaper office
Police executed two search warrants in two days at properties in Welshpool
(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
Dyfed-Powys Police seized 580 cannabis plants in raids on two properties in Welshpool on consecutive days in September – the old Savers store and the former County Times building. Along with cannabis plants and growing equipment officers recovered a number of knives. Detectives say the potential street value of the crop was more than £450,000.
The one in a disused industrial unit
Edison Cani (left) and Fluturim Kuti
(Image: North Wales Police)
When officers raided an industrial unit in Ernest Street in Rhyl they found a “sophisticated and extensive” cannabis-growing operation consisting of almost 900 plants worth around £500,000. Albanian nationals Fluturim Kuti, aged 28, and 24-year-old Edison Cani, who were inside the building when the police forced entry, climbed onto the roof to try to get away but ended up falling through it and suffering minor injuries. Mold Crown Court both men had arrived in the UK seeking asylum but had then absconded. Both were sentenced to 18 months in prison.
North Wales Police constable Sophie Corkish said: “People often describe the production and use of cannabis as being a victimless crime but it’s not. Organised crime is behind many of these cannabis factories and criminals are earning a lot of money off the back of our communities and they often protect their plantations by using violence and intimidation.”
The one in a disused warehouse
Rows of cannabis plants inside the warehouse
(Image: Gwent Police)
“Suspicious behaviour” outside a disused warehouse in Kelvedon Street in Newport led police to uncovering a large-scale cannabis operation spread over two floors. Gwent Police inspector Roland Giles said: “We will continue to work tirelessly to crack down on the production, sale, and supply of illegal drugs in the Newport area.”
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