Three men jailed for growing vast levels of cannabis at a disused school in West Wales have returned to court in a legal effort to recover and confiscate their criminal assets.

Njazi Gjana, 27, Ervin Gjana, 24, and Armeld Troski, 29, returned to Swansea Crown Court on Monday afternoon to face the Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings after they were convicted of growing cannabis at the former primary school in Llandysul.

A police raid carried out in November 2024, discovered a large-scale and highly sophisticated operation at the purposely modified school, where cannabis, worth up to £620,000 was being cultivated across three floors.

Following their conviction in January of this year, Troski is serving a custodial sentence of  three years and four months while Njazi and Ervin Gjana were both sentenced to two years and six months.

This week the trio re-appeared before Judge Huw Rees where they were legally unrepresented.  Following the Judge’s ruling, the matter was adjourned to enable the trio to seek legal representation.

“I hope they realise that I’m doing this in fairness to them,” commented Judge Rees.

The matter will now proceed at Swansea Crown Court on Friday, May 23.

A PROLIFIC county line cocaine dealer has been jailed following a police raid carried out in Neyland .

This week Swansea Crown Court heard how 22-year-old Marcel Mullins has previous convictions for supplying heroin and crack cocaine in Cambridgeshire and Staffordshire, however in March of this year, he turned his attention to Pembrokeshire.

On March 27 he was found asleep inside a property at College Park, Neyland, after police officers executed the raid on suspicion that the house was being used for the supply of Category A drugs.

There they discovered Mullins together with £1,740 in cash, a bum bag containing cannabis, a weighing scales containing traces of cocaine, snap bags and two mobile phones which had been snapped in half.  Despite the phones’ condition, police investigations showed they were linked to a number ending in ‘999’  that had been extensively used for distributing messages concerning the trafficking of drugs.  The same number was also found on Mullins’ personal mobile phone together with evidence  that he had been dealing in cannabis and cocaine.

Mullins, of no fixed abode, was arrested, but remained silent during his police interview.  On March 30 he was charged with supplying cocaine, supplying cannabis and being in possession of criminal property, namely £1,740 in cash.  He subsequently pleaded guilty to all three charges.

On Monday, May 19, Mullins appeared in Swansea Crown Court via a video link from Swansea Prison where he he been remanded since his arrest.

“The severity of this has now fallen on his shoulders, and he regrets ever becoming involved in drugs,” said his barrister, Caitlin Brazel, KC.

“But now he must face the consequences.”

Imposing sentence, Judge Huw Rees said Mullins was ‘wasting his youthful years’ by his persistent dealing of category A drugs.

“You’ve spent your adult life trading in heroin and crack cocaine in different parts of the country, which means  you’re a habitual supplier of serious drugs,” he said.

“You’re simply wasting your youthful years in custody.

“If you carry on in this way, your sentences will simply get longer and longer. And the proof of that is today.”

Mullins was sentenced to 2,045 days in prison, which amounts to just under five years and eight months.

A forfeiture and destruction order was imposed on the mobile phones and the £1,740 of cash that was found on him during the police raid.

A 79-YEAR-OLD farmer from Whitland is facing a string of serious animal welfare and regulatory charges following an investigation at Penycraig Farm in Carmarthenshire.

Thomas Raymond Jones, of The Flats, St John Street, Whitland, appeared before Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on Friday (May 16), where he pleaded guilty to two offences and not guilty to a further fourteen.

Martha Christine Randell of Tawelan, Bronwydd Road, Carmarthen was also charged with the same set of offences and leaded the same way.

The charges, brought by Carmarthenshire County Council, stem from alleged breaches of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013, the Cattle Identification Regulations 2007, and the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (Wales) Regulations 2014.

Among the most serious allegations, Mr Jones and Mrs Randell are accused of causing unnecessary suffering to a dog by failing to provide a suitable environment, proper diet, or medical treatment. He has pleaded not guilty to this offence.

They aer also charged with causing unnecessary suffering to nine lame cattle by failing to obtain veterinary treatment – a second offence under the Animal Welfare Act, to which he also pleaded not guilty.

However, the pair admitted two offences:

• Failing to meet the welfare needs of bovine animals by not providing dry lying areas and allowing access to a cow carcass.
• Failing to comply with animal by-product regulations by not ensuring the timely removal and secure storage of dead livestock, thus posing a risk to public and animal health.

Additional not guilty pleas were entered in relation to:

• Failing to provide feed and water to a cow and a calf.
• Obstructing a veterinary inspector during an official visit.
• Failing to keep proper veterinary medicine records.
• Failing to report the deaths and movements of animals and loss of cattle passports.
• Keeping untagged bison, and
• Failing to register two bulls within the required timeframe.

In total, the defendants are facing 16 separate charges. The offences span multiple dates between February and March 2024 and relate to alleged mismanagement of both companion animals and livestock.

Magistrates adjourned the case to June 13 for case management. The defendants, who are represented by Richard Griffiths Solicitors, were excused from attending the next hearing.

(Image: File photo of bison)