A raid on Bangor High Street exposed a company facilitating Albanian drug gangs across 54 UK sites.
Police busted a company linked to Albanian drug gangs on Bangor High Street, finding 1,000 cannabis plants inside the building, which had illegal electricity.
Two Albanians were arrested at the farm and claimed they were trafficked to work there. CCTV showed a van tied to the site, leading to an investigation of a company.
The company, Elev8 Civils and Utilities Ltd, was a fake groundwork business that was stealing electricity for cannabis farms in 54 places across the UK.
The plot, which started in the northwest area and spanned three years, was run by Ross McGinn and Andrew Roberts.
Their plot was uncovered by Operation Spark, involving Greg Black, Lewin Charles, and others, who appeared in court for sentencing.
The investigation began after the Bangor raid, focusing on a van in the CCTV footage registered to Elev8 Civils and Utilities Ltd.
The directors lived in Wigan and Liverpool, and police investigated the people in the company, with eight defendants working there from 2020 to 2024.
The conspiracy started with work at The Dell and ended with coordinated raids and arrests. Evidence came from a WhatsApp group, which remained active for a year.
While police could only prove 54 events, the gang likely did more, with some WhatsApp messages mentioning “Ganny f***-ups,” referring to fixing mistakes.
Other messages mentioned previous trips, suggesting some cannabis farms ran longer than the evidence showed, even though Elev8 listed its business as water projects.
The company did some real groundwork projects, but it was formed in 2022, suggesting its primary purpose was for the illegal plot.
Ross McGinn arranged the illegal work, directing other gang members and traveling to some sites, having been involved in at least 31 deployments.
Andrew Roberts also helped direct the work, utilizing his knowledge of cables and being called “AndyWork,” while Graham Roberts, the skilled worker, joined cables and went to dig sites most often.
His role was integral to the operation, as he spliced new electric cables while working in the holes.
Black supervised the operations and created the WhatsApp group, which police accessed after his arrest in 2022; Charles regularly traveled for the illicit work.
Charles, a groundsman who handled filling holes well, fled scenes when Roberts was arrested, while Doran, also a groundsman, wasn’t in the WhatsApp group. Sherry did similar work.
White, who worked for Scottish Power, gave the gang access to equipment, and they visited him for gear.
An expert reviewed the work, finding it poor and dangerous; cannabis was found at 32 of the 54 farms, yielding a street value of up to £12.9m.
Based on one crop per farm, the value could reach £21m for all farms. Most defendants assisted in producing cannabis and stealing electricity.
McGinn, Roberts, and White conspired to steal, while White also helped steal electricity alone. A judge will sentence the defendants, with others to be sentenced later.