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09
Jan 2023
Photos show how Albanian drugs gang transformed Harrogate home into cannabis farm
Police photos have revealed the scale of a cannabis farm run by an Albanian drugs gang at a Harrogate home owned by landlady Yoko Banks.
Banks, 74, of Scargill Road, was constantly in touch with the drug conspirators but played no active part in the cultivation process.
She was jailed for three-and-a-half years in August 2021 after she admitted three counts of being concerned in the supply of cannabis
Last week she was ordered to repay over £142,333 of illegally earned money under the Proceeds of Crime Act at Leeds Crown Court.
The photos by North Yorkshire Police show how one of her homes on Alexandra Road, close to King's Road, not far from Harrogate town centre, was completely transformed to cultivate the plants. Even the stairs were covered in cannabis.
Read more:
- Ex-Harrogate guest house owner ordered to repay £140,000 for role in cannabis racket
- Roadworks to start on Harrogate's Wetherby Road this week
Detective Inspector Janine Mitchell, head of financial investigation at the constabulary, said today:
Cannabis plants propped up in the house on Alexandra Road.
One of the rooms at the house.
The windows were blocked off to prevent people seeing inside.
The cannabis-covered stairs.
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