The head of an organised crime group who posed as a property developer to run a multi-million pound network of cannabis factories staffed by illegal migrants has been jailed for more than six years, following a National Crime Agency investigation.
Roman Le, aged 38, from Birmingham, headed a gang who operated at least eight farms in residential and commercial properties across the Midlands, North West and north Lincolnshire, as well as a storage facility housing both equipment and harvested cannabis.
Le sourced the properties by buying or renting them, in some cases putting up scaffolding around the buildings to make it look like building work was taking place.
Le worked with fellow gang members Yihao Feng, aged 29, from Manchester, and David Qayumi, aged 36, from Birmingham, to source and operate the properties.
Among them was the former ‘Big Bamboo’ nightclub in Coventry which was raided by the NCA and West Midlands Police in October 2020. Officers found more than 1,500 plants, worth more than £1 million, spread over three floors.
NCA surveillance officers had previously watched as Le visited the site, parking his Bentley Continental outside the building.
Other locations included a former public house in Birmingham, and an old hotel in Lancashire. Overall the farms were capable of making millions of pounds worth of cannabis.
Many of the farms were staffed by Vietnamese or Albanian illegal migrants, some of whom were likely being exploited because of their immigration status.
Qayumi posed as a businessman, working with Le to buy, rent or sub-let the properties, while Feng acted as an ‘operations manager’ for the group, making sure the factories kept working and that what was happening inside was kept a secret.
Le was arrested at his home, an apartment in Essex Street, Birmingham, on 4 November 2020, which he shared with his girlfriend.
Both Feng and Qayumi pleaded guilty to conspiring to produce cannabis, but Le denied the charge, claiming he was a legitimate businessman who had no knowledge that the properties he had interests in were being used for cannabis grows. Following an eight-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court, on 5 June he was found guilty.
On 4 July Feng and Qayumi were handed prison sentences totalling six-and-a-half years. Today (30 July) at the same court Le was sentenced to six-years-and-two-months.
NCA Senior Investigating Officer Paul Boniface said:
“The cannabis factories operated by Roman Le’s gang produced drugs worth millions, often staffed by migrants who had arrived here illegally and were being forced to work to pay off their debt to people smugglers.
“He claimed to be a legitimate businessman, but in reality he was lining his own pockets off the back of the exploitation of others less fortunate than him.
“Working with policing partners we were able to target and dismantle this organised criminal operation, and those involved are now rightfully behind bars.
“Gangs like this are helping fuel an industry that sees people transported into the UK in life-threatening ways in boats or lorries, which is why taking action against them is so important for the NCA.”
The NCA investigation was supported by West Midlands Police, Lancashire Police, and Humberside Police.
30 July 2025
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