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UPDATE: Police find 500 cannabis plants in raid at village pub near Harrogate

Police uncovered a farm of 500 cannabis plants during a raid at a disused pub near Harrogate at the weekend.

Officers swooped on the Star and Garter pub at Kirkby Overblow on the morning of Sunday, May 28, where they discovered the “large cannabis production farm”.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said the plants were at various stages of growth, adding:

“Officers remained at the scene to recover the plants and drug production equipment and to allow crime scene investigators to examine the scene.

“The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made at this time.”

Villagers told the Stray Ferret that police were on site for more than 24 hours after the raid and were removing large numbers of plants from the building.

The pub closed several years ago and was boarded up last year.

Police were seen outside the Star and Garter pub from Sunday morning onwards.

Following the raid, North Yorkshire Police has urged people to report any suspicions of properties being used to grow cannabis.

As well as a strong, sweet smell of cannabis in the area, suspicious signs might include blacked out windows and blocked up vents, bright lights throughout the night, high levels of condensation on windows, noise from fans inside the building, and large amounts of rubbish including compost bags.

The police spokesperson added:

“We’re continuously tackling ‘cannabis farms’ – sophisticated set-ups in houses or other properties, used by organised crime gangs to produce several crops of cannabis over time.

“Cannabis production is extremely harmful to communities, and often used to fund criminal gangs involved in human trafficking, sexual exploitation and the distribution of other drugs including cocaine and heroin.

“Furthermore, the electricity supply may have been tampered with (to bypass the meter), creating a high risk of fire – which could spread to neighbouring properties.”

Man arrested after weapons and drugs found at Starbeck property

A 19-year-old man has been arrested after police found weapons and drugs at a house in Starbeck.

North Yorkshire Police made the discovery after initially receiving a call on Thursday (April 13) from someone concerned for the welfare of a dog.

Officers attended the property and found a strong smell of cannabis at the address before conducting a search.

A police statement added:

“A search took place and officers uncovered a large kukri style knife and a telescopic baton.

“A large bag of what is suspected to be a class B drug, scales and several mobile phones were also found.”

Police arrested a 19-year-old on suspicion of possession of offensive weapon in a private place, causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and possession with an intent to supply a class B drug.

He was interviewed and released under investigation.

Albanian crime group ran huge cocaine racket in Harrogate, court hears

An Albanian organised crime group ran a cocaine and cannabis racket in Harrogate potentially worth millions, a court heard.

The mega-money conspiracy involved “kilo blocks” of cocaine and cannabis being transported between London and Harrogate where the drugs were sold on the street, a jury at Leeds Crown Court was told yesterday.

Prosecutor Katherine Robinson said the conspirators, mostly Albanian nationals, were also thought to be involved in a £1.5 million cannabis farm in Rochdale which was connected to the Harrogate operation.

Yesterday, Kole Lleshi, 54, of Hargrove Road, Harrogate, Gavin Woodley, 44, of Ashfield Road, Harrogate and Allaman Tatariku, 25, of Penhale Road, Portsmouth appeared for the first day of their trial after they each denied playing a part in the wider conspiracy.

The gang’s ringleader, former Harrogate restaurant worker Ermal Biba, 38, had already admitted his part in the lucrative drug plot, along with Kladji Lleshi, 23, of Kinloss Court, London, Dritan Lleshaj, 53, formerly of Spring Mount, Harrogate, and Adam Sarkowski, 41, formerly of Wedderburn Close, Harrogate.

Biba, of Trafalgar Court, Harrogate, admitted conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis between June 2019 and May 2022.

Ms Robinson said Biba was the lynchpin between two distinct conspiracies in which, after his first foot soldiers were arrested, he recruited three others, namely Kladji Lleshi, Tatariku, Woodley and Sarkowski.

She said the first conspiracy involved Biba, Kole Lleshi and Dritan Lleshaj, who had also admitted, and been jailed for, possession with intent to supply cocaine and cannabis. Lleshaj was deported to his homeland.

‘Dealer lines’

Biba was released under investigation following his initial arrest in May 2020 for the first conspiracy but then recruited another group of conspirators and continued operating “dealer lines” in Harrogate run by an “organised-crime group”, added the prosecuting barrister.

Kole Lleshi was arrested and admitted his part in the drug operation by transporting a kilo of cocaine from London to Harrogate in September 2019. However, he denied being involved in the wider conspiracy.

Ms Robinson said police surveillance officers had been tracking Biba, Lleshaj and Kole Lleshi during the first conspiracy in 2019.

They recorded Biba and Lleshaj “meeting regularly” and were monitoring their whereabouts when, in September 2019, Biba arranged a “drug run” which involved Kole Lleshi driving to London and bringing back Class A drugs to Harrogate.

Biba was in contact with an unknown man in London from whom Lleshi was ostensibly to collect the drugs, added Ms Robinson.

A few weeks later, Biba sent Kole Lleshi a text message saying: “We go tomorrow.”

The following day, Lleshi set off for London again in a Kia vehicle, ostensibly for a drug pick-up, and returned to Yorkshire where he was stopped by police on the A1 near Doncaster. During a search of his car, officers found a kilo block of high-purity cocaine in a plastic bag wrapped in a sock. The drugs had a “wholesale” value of £25,000.

The following day, Lleshaj was arrested after meeting Biba in a Harrogate restaurant. Lleshaj was found with £419 in cash and five wraps of cocaine.

He told police he was homeless, but they found the keys to his house in Spring Mount and searched it. They found “various quantities” of cocaine and about £2,000 cash.

High-purity cocaine

She said Woodley played the role of “facilitator” in the conspiracy by allowing the gang to supply drugs from his rented house in Ashfield Road, where they found 264g of high-purity cocaine and two large “vacuum packages” of cannabis worth up to £11,000.

Biba, Lleshaj, Tatariku and Kladji Leshi were said to be regular visitors to this property where police also found “debt lists”, cash, digital weighing scales and hydroponic equipment for growing cannabis.

Woodley was subsequently arrested at his then home in Fairfax Avenue, Harrogate, where police found a small amount of cocaine and cannabis and a torch-like stun gun.

Ms Robinson said Greater Manchester Police raided an industrial unit in Rochdale in March last year when they arrested two Albanian men after they found a large cannabis grow on an “industrial” scale.

Those two men admitted cultivating cannabis at the factory which had an estimated harvest of 144 kilos with an estimated “street value” of £1.5 million. Ms Robinson added:

“(Police) surveillance had been carried out and members of the organised crime group in Harrogate regularly visited this industrial estate in Rochdale.

“ANPR (cameras) showed Mr Biba’s vehicle travelling in that direction and Kladji Lleshi and Allaman Tatariku’s phones showed they travelled down the M62 from Harrogate to Rochdale.”

Woodley’s red Transit van also made journeys to Rochdale, said Ms Robinson.

Biba, Kladji Lleshi and Sarkowski all admitted their part in that cannabis conspiracy. Tatariku said he was involved in the supply of cocaine and cannabis but that he was not involved in a conspiracy with other people.

Woodley said although he was the tenant at the Ashfield Road property, he “couldn’t remember” the name of the landlord and “knew nothing” about the drugs found there. He denied playing any part in drug supply but said he knew Biba, with whom he worked in Harrogate restaurants.

The trial continues.

Teen arrested on cocaine charge after car overturns in Ripon

A man has been arrested on suspicion of supplying Class A drugs after officers came across a crashed car in Ripon.

Shortly after 3pm yesterday, North Yorkshire Police officers on patrol near Lark Lane in Ripon located a red VW Golf car that had been involved in a collision and was on its roof.

A police statement today said:

“One of the occupants made off from the scene. Following a search of the area, officers located a large quantity of suspected cannabis and cocaine.

“The other occupant, a 19-year-old local man, was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply a Class A drug. He has since been released on bail while enquiries continue.”

Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, quoting reference number 12230015627.

Police closed the road while the incident took place.

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.

Detective Inspector Janine Mitchell, head of financial investigation at the constabulary, said today:

“The Proceeds of Crime Act allows us to deprive criminals of their illegal income. We will take every opportunity to use the legislation to its capacity to ensure no-one benefits from crime.

“In this case Banks had knowingly rented out high-end Harrogate properties to the organised crime gang in return for thousands of pounds in rental income.

“If you suspect anyone of living off illegally earned income, do not hesitate to call the police. If you don’t want to talk to us, you can report it to Crimestoppers anonymously.”

cannabis farm Harrogate Alexandra Rd Yoko Banks

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.

Yoko Banks

Man ordered to pay £1 for role in £500,000 Harrogate cannabis racket

An Albanian drug conspirator involved in a half-a-million-pound cannabis racket in Harrogate has been made to pay back just £1 to the public purse and is apparently “nowhere to be found”.

Andi Kokaj, 23, was part of a London-based gang which conspired with former Harrogate guest-house owner Yoko Banks to set up three lucrative cannabis factories in affluent streets.

He was jailed for three years in August last year for being concerned in the production of cannabis.

At a financial confiscation hearing today at Leeds Crown Court, judge Tom Bayliss KC ruled that Kokaj would pay a nominal fee of £1 after the prosecution said he played a “minor” role in the criminal enterprise.

Prosecutor Michael Bosomworth said the gang had converted three of Banks’ properties on Alexandra Road, Woodlands Road and Somerset Road near Harrogate town centre into cannabis farms with potential yields of up to £456,000. The gang made an estimated £345,000 from the drug plot.

However, Kokaj, played a “lesser role” and was paid just £80 a day for his part in the conspiracy and so made a financial gain of £1,120, added Mr Bosomworth.

He said that Kokaj, from London but of no fixed address, had no assets.

Mr Bayliss KC duly made the nominal £1 order due to Kokaj’s limited financial means.

Kokaj didn’t attend the confiscation hearing and the court heard he was “probably nowhere to be found”.

When he was sentenced last summer, he was told he would only have to serve half of the three-year sentence behind bars, less the time he had spent on remand, which means he is likely to have been released from jail.

Yoko Banks case adjourned again

Banks, 74, of Scargill Road, Harrogate, was also due to face financial confiscation today but her case was adjourned yet again for the service of financial documents setting out her complex web of assets and properties.

Earlier this year, the former B&B boss and property tycoon failed in her bid to have her conviction quashed after being convicted of three counts of being concerned in the production of cannabis.

Yoko Banks

The court heard the disgraced pensioner was the “facilitator” for the Albanian gang’s cannabis-cultivation enterprise.

Her six co-conspirators, Kokaj, Visar Sellaj, 33, Kujtim Brahaj, 50, Indrit Brahaj, 27, Bledar Elezaj, 36, and 31-year-old Erblin Elezaj, were jailed for a combined 22 years for various offences including drug supply and production of the highly potent skunk cannabis in August 2021.

Banks, who rented out her three properties to the gang to convert into cannabis farms, was jailed for three-and-a-half years and is due to be released from New Hall women’s prison in West Yorkshire on December 31, halfway through her sentence.

At a previous adjourned confiscation hearing, Mr Bosomworth said that Banks owned a string of “highly marketable” properties in some of Harrogate’s most desirable areas.

He added, however, that her “complicated accounts and property empire” were proving to be a major sticking point in the ongoing financial investigation.

On that occasion, Banks claimed she had no money because it had been frozen in her bank account. She said, however, that she had “a lot” of assets.

Ringleader made £438,000

Mr Bosomworth said that Sellaj, the gang’s ringleader, had made £438,000 from the cannabis-cultivation enterprise and that he had £76,000 in the bank which he could pay back into public coffers.

At a contested financial confiscation hearing in May, it was found that Indrit Brahaj had jointly benefited from the criminal enterprise to the tune of £133,328. In his case, a confiscation order of £24,082 was made.

Kujtim Brahaj was found to have benefited to the tune of £1,194. The judge made a nominal confiscation order of £1 in his case due to limited financial means.

The prosecution said that Banks rented out her properties to the “professional” drug gang for “industrial” cannabis production “in the expectation of significant profit”, though she had no part in the actual cultivation process.

Their mega-money plot finally unravelled when police were called to a five-bedroom villa owned by Banks in September 2020 after reports of a “disturbance” in the street involving what appeared to be two rival gangs vying for the cannabis farm.

Banks, who had previous convictions for health-and-safety offences through her work, was due to be paid at least £12,000 a month in rent for use of the three properties and was also receiving “high” deposits, said Mr Bosomworth.

Her final confiscation hearing was adjourned to January 6 next year to give her defence counsel time to provide evidence that some of the bank transfers to her account were “legitimate”.

Ringleader Sellaj’s financial confiscation proceedings were adjourned for a full-day hearing to determine the amount of cash available to him.

Harrogate district remains the county’s cannabis farm hotspot

The Harrogate district is still the place in North Yorkshire with the highest number of cannabis farms, data from North Yorkshire Police has revealed.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request showed that between 2016 and 2021, nine major farms with more than 25 plants were discovered in the Harrogate district.

That was almost double the amount found in the Selby district, which was the next highest with five.

This marked a continuation of a trend highlighted two years when an FOI request from the Stray Ferret found that the Harrogate district also had the highest number of cannabis farms then.

Between 2017 and 2020, officers made 22 arrests of people involved with cannabis farms in North Yorkshire.

Countywide issue

In total over the five-year period between 2016 and 2021, Police recorded 25 crimes relating to cannabis farms across North Yorkshire.

Only two crimes were recorded in 2016/17 and there were three each in 2018/19 and 2019/20.

However, there were nine in 2017/18 and eight in 2020/21.

On average, 323 plants were seized from farms. The largest number recorded was 2,797.

Since the available data ended in 2021, North Yorkshire Police has continued to deal with the issue of large-scale cannabis production in the Harrogate area.

Earlier this year, seven people were jailed for a combined 22 years after Police discovered £450,000-worth of cannabis spread across farms at three properties.

In February, two men were stopped on the A1(M) with 14 kilos of cannabis in their car. They were jailed for two years.

North Yorkshire Police was approached for comment about the latest statistics and why the Harrogate district is so popular with cannabis growers but did not respond.

Teen denies Harrogate cannabis farm charge

A Vietnamese teenager has denied being concerned in the production of Class B drugs after police discovered a cannabis farm in Harlow Hill, Harrogate.

Manh Nguyen, 18, of no fixed address, appeared at York Crown Court today (Monday, September 5) when his case was adjourned for a trial in January next year.

Mr Nguyen was arrested after police raided a property in West Lea Avenue, in the Harlow Hill area, last month.

It’s understood that during a search of the property, they found about 500 cannabis plants and other items linked to drug production.

Mr Nguyen was charged with being concerned in the production of a Class B drug but denied the allegation when he appeared in court via video link today, aided by a Vietnamese interpreter.

Judge Simon Hickey adjourned the case for a trial starting on January 25 next year. A further case-management hearing will be heard on November 11 this year.

Mr Nguyen was remanded in custody until that date.

Teen arrested after 500 cannabis plants seized in Harrogate house

A teenager has been arrested after police seized about 500 cannabis plants from a house in Harrogate.

North Yorkshire Police swooped on the property in Harlow Hill on Friday after being alerted by residents.

They forced entry and seized the plants and other items linked to drug production.

Officers from Expedite, a police team that tackles county lines drug dealing, and the Harrogate Safer Neighbourhood Team, were involved in the operation.

The 18-year-old suspect was arrested on suspicion of drug offences and remanded in custody.

He appeared in front of magistrates the next day and is due to appear in front of a judge at York Crown Court next month.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said:

“Information supplied by the community is just one of many ways we’re ensuring North Yorkshire stays the safest county in England.

“But it’s a vital source of information for any police force.

“If you have concerns about drug activity in your community, tell us by visiting our website and clicking ‘report it’, or call us on 101.

“You can also share information anonymously with the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

Harrogate guest house owner plans to appeal cannabis racket conviction

A Harrogate guest house owner who played the role of “facilitator” in a half-a-million-pound cannabis racket has sacked her legal team as she pursues plans to appeal her conviction.

Yoko Banks, 74, rented out her properties to an Albanian drug gang for “industrial” cannabis production “in the expectation of significant profit”, Leeds Crown Court heard.

The pensioner, of Scargill Road, was jailed for three-and-a-half years in August last year after she admitted three counts of being concerned in the production of cannabis.

Her six co-conspirators, Visar Sellaj, 33, Kujtim Brahaj, 50, Indrit Brahaj, 27, Bledar Elezaj, 36, Andi Kokaj, 23, and 31-year-old Erblin Elezaj, an illegal immigrant, were jailed for a combined 22 years for various offences including drug supply and production of skunk cannabis.

Banks, who owns properties across Harrogate, was back in court today to face financial confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

But they were postponed once again after the court heard she was still intent on appealing her conviction and wanted to leave her legal team in favour of another firm of solicitors.

Prosecutor Michael Bosomworth said there was also an issue with a statement provided by one of Banks’s co-defendants, the gang’s ringleader Sellaj, who claimed that some of the money in his bank account had been transferred to him by relatives in Albania.

He added, however, that the major sticking point involved Banks and her “complicated accounts and property empire”.

Mr Bosomworth said Banks was now claiming “she only understands Japanese” – although she spoke in English in the dock and appeared to understand everything that was put to her.

Matters have been further complicated by Banks initially telling her legal team she didn’t wish to appeal, but then changing her mind.

She had pursued the appeal “notwithstanding she told (her solicitors) she wasn’t pursuing it” and was now in the process of transferring legal aid to a new team of solicitors.

If her legal aid application is granted, it would mean her costs being covered at least partly by public money.

Banks has “messed everyone around” for 18 months

Mr Bosomworth said there had been an issue between Banks and her present solicitors and she was “awaiting legal aid to be transferred”.

He said it was the Crown’s case that Banks had “messed everyone around for the last 18 months” and that the prosecution would “invite the court to consider the matter on the basis she is just not co-operating”.

He added that any order made today in terms of benefit and confiscation amount would “inevitably” be challenged by Banks who, as things stood, did not have any legal representation.

Mr Bosomworth said it was incumbent on Banks to submit a statement to the court showing her assets and “what the issues are”, but she had not yet served one.

When Recorder Mr Baird asked Banks if she understood what had been said and that she must submit a statement, she said she did and that she had “messed up quite a lot” during the legal case.

At the previous hearing in January, the Crown said it was not yet in a position to make a financial confiscation ruling because Banks’s defence team needed more time to delve into her “complicated” accounts and extensive “property empire”.

Leeds Crown Court. Picture: the Stray Ferret.

Banks’s then defence counsel said that a forensic accountant had been instructed to scrutinise her accounts and the “considerable amount” of properties and other assets she owned.

Mr Recorder Baird adjourned the confiscation proceedings until July 29.

He said:

“These are important matters for Mrs Banks. There’s a lot of money at stake here and I take the view that she should be legally represented.”

Banks was ‘facilitator’ in cannabis racket

At the sentence hearing in August 2021, the court heard that the “professional”, London-based gang had invested tens of thousands of pounds into three cannabis factories at Banks’s properties on Alexandra Road, Woodlands Road and Somerset Road near Harrogate town centre.

The criminals had even dug a trench outside the three-storey Edwardian villa on Alexandra Road through which they fed electricity cables to the house to power the “highly sophisticated” cultivation system and bypass the electricity grid.

Their plot finally unravelled when police were called to the five-bedroom villa on September 26, 2020, after reports of a “disturbance” in the street involving what appeared to be two rival gangs vying for the cannabis farm.

Banks had rented her properties to the Albanians through an “unidentified individual who goes by the name of Francesco”, who sub-let the houses to the gang’s ringleader Sellaj.

The total potential yield of the cannabis factories was valued at up to £456,000, not including previous harvests.

Although Banks was not involved in the cultivation, she had played a “facilitating” or advisory role in the plot and was constantly “pressing (the gang) be paid by them”.

Banks – who had previous convictions for health-and-safety offences through her work – was due to be paid at least £12,000 a month in rent for the three properties and was also receiving “high” deposits.

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‘Dealer lines’

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High-purity cocaine

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Yoko Banks case adjourned again

Ringleader made £438,000

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Countywide issue

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Banks has “messed everyone around” for 18 months

Banks was ‘facilitator’ in cannabis racket

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