Family from Portsmouth who launched £5m cannabis business in Wales told to pay back £1m
A family who set up one of the most sophisticated cannabis operations Wales has ever seen after moving from Portsmouth - producing around £5m of products over a five-year period - have been ordered to pay back over £1m of their profits.
Husband and wife Edward, 65, and Linda McCann, 63, along with their son Daniel, 40, appeared at Swansea Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing for the money they gained through the sale of cannabis and cannabis products.
The family had established a sophisticated cannabis set-up in rural Carmarthenshire, which was disrupted on October 23, 2020, when Dyfed-Powys Police executed a warrant. The family had moved from Portsmouth before launching their lucrative rural operation - with Edward McCann claiming he was only growing a small amount of cannabis to help with his leukaemia.
Searching the isolated property in Blaenllain, near Whitland, officers uncovered a large-scale cannabis factory, where the family was producing herbal cannabis, cannabis resin and cannabis oil.
Six purpose-built rooms were identified on the barn’s ground floor, each with ventilation fans and growing lights. Over these six rooms were 202 cannabis plants at various stages of growth, with a potential value of up to £460,000.
Upstairs in the barn were industrial-sized ovens with trays covered in cannabis residue, a number of clothes horses being used to dry out cannabis, equipment for extracting cannabis oil from plants, and 80kg of products worth up to £1.5m.
Linda McCann was in the barn when officers entered, and was immediately arrested, along with Jack Whittock, of Llanteg, Narberth, and Justin Liles, of St Clears. In 2022 she was sentenced to six years and seven months in prison for conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis between 2015 and 2020 and possessing criminal property.
Edward McCann was arrested in a house next to the barn, where a search uncovered £10,000 cash in individual £1,000 bundles in the front bedroom, and a cannabis-infused chocolate bar on the kitchen table. He was sentenced to seven years and seven months in prison for conspiracy to produce cannabis between 2015 and 2020, conspiracy to supply cannabis, and possession of criminal property.
Following police enquiries, Daniel McCann, of Waterlooville, was found to be the property owner, and was arrested in Portsmouth the following February. He was sentenced to eight years and six months for conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis between 2015 and 2020 and possessing criminal property.
Detective Chief Inspector Rhys Jones, of Dyfed-Powys Police, said: “This operation remains one of the biggest single warrants the force has carried out to date.
“The McCann family specifically picked out this property thinking they could come to come to a rural, secluded spot to set up an industrial-scale cannabis farm and go unnoticed. They were mistaken, as our officers and staff gather vital intelligence from even the smallest and most remote communities, and act on this to keep our communities safe.
“A significant amount of work went into this investigation, from the very start in gaining authorisation for the initial warrant, through to putting a robust evidence package together and securing charges and ultimately lengthy prison sentences against Edward, Daniel and Linda McCann.”
Along with a thorough investigation into the source of the drugs at the property, detectives also carried out financial enquiries which estimated the potential wholesale value of the drugs and products over five years could have been between £1,798,520.73 and £2,412,333.68.
During a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing, Swansea Crown Court heard that the available assets were agreed to be £1,091,330.61, and were said to include the sale of two properties, Mercedes, Porsche and Harley Davidson vehicles, plus jewellery. The family has now been ordered to pay back this profit or face more time in jail.
Detective Sergeant Owen Lock said: “Ongoing work by our economic crime has taken the McCann’s prison sentences one step further by making sure the family will also have to pay back the money and hand over the assets earned from their criminal activity.
“We hope this serves as a warning to others, and reinforces the message that you cannot profit from crime.”