Final defendant in East Lancs cannabis conspiracy jailed

In January, more than 25 men were put behind bars for a total of more than 70 years after police uncovered a multi-million-pound drugs operation in East Lancashire.

In total, 30 defendants, mostly Lithuanian nationals, faced the courts charged for their involvement in the conspiracy which saw the group set up 70 cannabis farms in houses across Nelson, Accrington and Brierfield, many in terraced homes with neighbours unaware of what was going on next door.

Daugardas Buta (Image: Lancs Police)

Dubbed Operation Rockwell, officers found 2,500 cannabis plants and 100kg of dried cannabis, with an estimated street value of £2 million.

During the course of the 11-month sting, police also recovered hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash, as well as weapons including imitation firearms, CS gas canisters and a taser.

The ringleaders of the conspiracy were Andrius Zuraitis, Shuaib Ashraf Dar and Abdul Wahid.

28 of the defendants in the operation have already been jailed (Image: Lancs Police)

Properties were converted into ‘professional’ growing sites, with the group installing steel doors, Perspex windows and CCTV cameras to protect the illegal activity going on inside from detection or rival drugs gangs.

They also hired self-storage units to store equipment and cannabis and hired skips so they could dismantle the farms when they had collected the yield.

On Friday, the final defendant, Daugardas Buta, 25, Scotland Road, Nelson, was jailed for six years and two months for conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis.