Overview

• Roman Le, a 37-year-old Birmingham man, was convicted on June 5 after an eight-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court for conspiring to produce cannabis.
• His network spanned at least eight farms in residential and commercial properties across the Midlands, North West and north Lincolnshire, often disguised by scaffolding.
• The grows were staffed by Vietnamese and Albanian migrants, many of whom were likely exploited because of their immigration status.
• Co-defendants Yihao Feng and David Qayumi had pleaded guilty to the same charge; all three are due to be sentenced on July 4.
• The National Crime Agency led the investigation with support from West Midlands, Lancashire and Humberside police, seizing more than £1 million of cannabis plants at a former Coventry nightclub.