Family-run drugs enterprise brought in millions before police raid during lockdown

A FAMILY who relocated from England to a remote Carmarthenshire farm ran a highly organised cannabis production operation worth millions of pounds before it was uncovered by police.

Edward McCann, aged 66, his wife Linda, aged 63, and their son Daniel, aged 41, were jailed after admitting their roles in what prosecutors described as one of the most sophisticated cannabis factories ever uncovered in Wales.

The operation was based at Blaenllain Farm, near Whitland, where the family had moved from Portsmouth. Although the property appeared to be an ordinary agricultural holding, locals became suspicious after extensive security fencing, CCTV systems and a lack of any livestock raised questions.

Police eventually raided the site during the Covid lockdown in October 2020, discovering a large-scale drugs factory operating from a converted barn.

Inside, officers found six purpose-built growing rooms containing cannabis plants at different stages of development. Upstairs areas were being used to dry harvested plants, while ovens were used to process cannabis resin and manufacture cannabis-infused products, including chocolate bars.

Investigators later estimated that the operation had generated around £3.5 million over a five-year period.

Two men had also been recruited to help maintain the crop. Justin Liles, aged 22, from St Clears, and Jack Whittock, aged 30, from Narberth, were found working on the site at the time of the raid and were later jailed for their involvement.

Edward McCann was arrested at the farmhouse, while Daniel McCann — who owned the property but was living in Hampshire — was later arrested in Portsmouth in February 2021.

During sentencing at Swansea Crown Court, the judge rejected Edward McCann’s earlier claim that the cannabis was largely for personal medical use following a leukaemia diagnosis. The court heard that electricity had been illegally drawn from the National Grid to power high-intensity lighting and ventilation systems required for large-scale cultivation.

Judge Geraint Walters said the operation had been so extensive that it was unlikely to escape notice indefinitely, noting that the unusual security measures and lack of farming activity would have drawn attention in an agricultural area.

The cannabis plants seized during the raid were valued at up to £460,000, with finished products weighing around 80 kilograms and worth as much as £1.5 million.

Edward McCann was sentenced to seven years and seven months in prison, Daniel McCann received eight and a half years, and Linda McCann was jailed for six years and seven months. Liles was sentenced to 22 months, while Whittock received two years and ten months.

At a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing, the court heard that Edward McCann had personally benefited by almost £1.8 million. He was ordered to repay £340,000 within three months or face an additional four years in prison. Daniel McCann was given the same repayment order and penalty.

Linda McCann, said to have profited by £1.45 million, was ordered to repay £335,000 or face a further three years behind bars.

The court was told that failure to pay would not cancel the financial obligations, even if additional prison sentences were served. Further hearings are continuing to determine confiscation orders for the two hired workers.