Two men have been jailed for their part in huge cannabis-growing operation across 75 properties.
Mirel Neatu and Marius Nedelcu were both handed custodial sentences for their part in the organised business, while a third defendant, Seyan Debnath, was given a suspended sentence at Leeds Crown Court today.
The men ran property-management companies that were linked to an investigation into 75 cannabis farms in residential properties producing the drug with a street value of more than £4.5million.
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Officers from the Leeds East Neighbourhood Policing Team identified the criminal enterprise as part of their work under the ‘Community Harehills’ project, which was launched in the area in March 2023 and is based on the Home Office’s ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ tactic.
In March last year, officers executed warrants in Leeds and carried out arrest enquiries in Coventry, resulting in the men and a fourth man being detained.
The team seized 7,636 plants amounting to 458kg of cannabis.
They were subsequently charged with conspiracy to produce a Class B drug and acquiring, using or possessing criminal property.
At a hearing at Leeds Crown Court in January this year, Mirel Neatu, Marius Nedelcu, and Seyan Debnath pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of permitting premises to be used for the production of a controlled drug.
No evidence was offered against a fourth defendant and he was acquitted.
Enquiries had shown the three men's involvement and their links to each other’s business.
Officers, who worked with Leeds City Council’s Rogue Landlord Unit during the operation, also seized £14,000 at Debnath’s address. A confiscation order is being sought to recover it as the proceeds of crime.
Neatu, 37, of Brackenwood Drive, Leeds, was sentenced to 32 months in jail, and Nedelcu, 40, of Signet Square, Coventry, was jailed for 28 months.
Debnath, 48, of Lupton Avenue, Leeds, was given a suspended 21-month sentence with 30 hours of unpaid work and 12-week curfew order.
Inspector Alastair Nicholls, who heads the Leeds East NPT, said: “The large-scale production of cannabis by organised crime groups in residential properties in Harehills is an issue that fuels broader 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.
“These men have been convicted over their roles in providing properties for crime gangs who were producing millions of pounds worth of the drug on an industrial scale.
“These activities also caused substantial financial loss to the legitimate landlords who had to repair their properties from the extensive damage caused.
“We painstakingly built up an evidential picture of the involvement of these men as part of an operation that will have dealt a significant blow to this criminal trade that impacts negatively on the local community.
“We hope this latest success will provide some reassurance to the community and also send a clear message to those involved in this type of crime that Harehills is not somewhere where they can commit these offences without facing the consequences.
“Under the CommUnity Harehills initiative, we will continue working closely with our partner agencies to ruthlessly pursue and disrupt all forms of criminality which cause harm in the local community.”
