Men who secured homes for cannabis farms jailed

Three men have been sentenced for their roles in running cannabis farms at properties in Leeds.

Mirel Neatu, Marius Nedelcu and Seyan Debnath secured homes from legitimate landlords under the guise of managing the properties, before allowing organised crime groups to set up cannabis farms, Leeds Crown Court heard.

West Yorkshire Police said the property management companies were linked to a wider investigation into 75 cannabis farms in residential properties in and around the Harehills area that produced drugs with a street value of more than £4.5m.

Judge Mushtaq Khokhar said the properties had been left in an "unliveable" state, with landlords losing up to £30,000 per property.

West Yorkshire Police said officers seized 7,636 plants, amounting to 458kg of cannabis, in a series of raids in Harehills which began in March 2023.

In January, Neatu, Nedelcu and Debnath pleaded guilty to permitting premises to be used for the production of a controlled drug in relation to some of the properties involved.

Judge Khokhar said the landlords who trusted the defendants with their properties had been "badly let down".

"Many of the landlords were elderly and had these properties for income or as pensions," he said.

"The properties are now unliveable, and the average loss per property was £20,000 to £30,000."

Insp Alastair Nicholls from West Yorkshire Police said the men had provided properties for organised crime groups producing cannabis on "an industrial scale".

"The large scale production of cannabis by organised crime groups in residential properties in Harehills is an issue that fuels wider crime and anti social behaviour in the area and is something we have had significant success in tackling since the CommUnity Harehills project was launched two years ago," he said.

Insp Nicholls said the police operation had "dealt a significant blow to this criminal trade that impacts negatively on the local community".

Neatu, 37, of Brackenwood Drive, Leeds, was jailed for two years and eight months.

Nedulcu, 40, of Signet Square, Coventry, was jailed for two years and four months.

Debnath, 48, of Lupton Avenue, Leeds, was given a 21-month suspended sentence with 300 hours of community service and a curfew.

Sentencing the men earlier, Judge Khokhar said: "Different roles have been played by different people. The sentences passed are in accordance with these roles."

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