Crime boss convicted after running cannabis farm in abandoned Lancashire hotel
The leader of a major organised crime group who ran a network of cannabis farms across the UK, including a former Lancashire hotel, has been convicted.
Roman Le, 37, from Birmingham, headed the operation that ran at least eight cannabis factories across residential and commercial properties, as well as a storage facility containing both cannabis plants and growing equipment.
Le’s network targeted properties across the region, with a particular focus on abandoned buildings.
In Lancashire, they took over the disused Wellington Hotel in Clayton-le-Moors.
The hotel, which had stood empty for years, was one of several derelict sites the gang used, disguising their activities behind the guise of property development.
In some cases, scaffolding was put up to give the illusion of building work, masking the illegal operations inside.
Le, alongside co-defendants Yihao Feng, 29, from Manchester, and David Qayumi, 36, from Birmingham, exploited empty properties, either buying or renting them by posing as legitimate property developers.
They also had access to industrial storage units to house cannabis equipment and harvested plants.
Other properties used by the gang included a former nightclub in Coventry and a disused public house in Birmingham.
Across the group’s operations, investigators believe the farms had the potential to generate millions of pounds worth of cannabis.
Qayumi posed as a businessman, while Feng operated as the ‘operations manager’, overseeing day-to-day running of the factories and ensuring the illicit nature of the activities remained hidden.
The operations were often staffed by vulnerable individuals, including Vietnamese and Albanian migrants, who were likely exploited due to their immigration status.
The NCA investigation, supported by Lancashire Police and other regional forces, saw officers place members of the gang under close surveillance.
On one occasion, Le was seen driving his Bentley Continental to the former Big Bamboo nightclub in Coventry, where he entered the building.
Officers raided the site and discovered 1,500 cannabis plants, worth more than £1 million, spread across three floors.
Feng was arrested in September 2020 after being stopped by police in his Maserati, just after visiting the old Wellington Hotel in Clayton-le-Moors.
The next day, the NCA raided the site and uncovered a cannabis farm with more than 300 plants.
The same day Feng was arrested, officers also raided the former Queen’s Head public house in Hockley, Birmingham, seizing more than 300 plants and arresting six Albanian nationals involved in the operation.
Investigators later discovered that the pub had been sold to a company controlled by Le.
Further raids were carried out on a lock-up storage unit in Aston, Birmingham, where cannabis-growing equipment was found, along with empty suitcases used to transport the drugs and a money-counting machine.
Surveillance footage had captured all three men visiting the site on multiple occasions.
Le was arrested at his apartment in Birmingham on 4 November 2020, which he shared with his girlfriend, Yihao Feng’s sister.
Both Feng and Qayumi pleaded guilty to conspiring to produce cannabis, but Le denied the charge, claiming he was a legitimate businessman unaware of the illicit use of his properties.
After an eight-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court, Le was found guilty on June 5.
He was remanded in custody and all three men will be sentenced on July 4.
Kevin Broadhead, NCA Branch Commander, said: “Roman Le claimed to be a legitimate property developer, but in reality, he was the mastermind of a sophisticated crime syndicate capable of producing millions of pounds worth of cannabis.
“While Le and his co-conspirators reaped the financial rewards, the real victims were the vulnerable migrants who were exploited to work in these illegal operations.
“Our investigation, in collaboration with police forces across the country, has dismantled a major criminal enterprise.”