By Estate agent director sentenced
Sarfraz Farooq, 46, of St Catherines Avenue, Luton, was jailed for eight years and four months at Luton Crown Court on Thursday 10 September. The director of Condor Estates used his business to create false tenancy agreements for properties that were converted into cannabis factories.
Police raided 20 properties in Luton and Milton Keynes in 2024 and recovered almost 2,000 plants worth up to £800,000. Officers estimated the plants could have generated cannabis with a street value of more than £2 million in just 12 months.
Farooq used homes belonging to genuine landlords who trusted the agency to legitimately rent out their properties. They were provided with what they believed to be valid tenancy agreements and rental payments, while the offenders secretly crammed the homes with cannabis plants.
Farooq was also disqualified from acting as a company director for 10 years. He was one of five men arrested under Bedfordshire Police’s Operation Costello.
The operation uncovered a sophisticated network involving cannabis cultivation, fraudulent tenancy agreements, the purchase of specialist hydroponic equipment and money laundering.
Accomplices and sentences
Uan Gogu, 42, of Ashcroft Road, Luton, played a central role in establishing the cannabis factories and was jailed for six and a half years. He arranged for specialist hydroponic equipment to be installed in the properties.
Police said Gogu caused fires at three of the properties and was involved in bypassing electricity meters, creating significant safety risks. Zohaib Riaz Ali, 33, of Biscot Road, Luton, assisted the operation through the purchase of hydroponic equipment and received a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
Glentjan Sefaj, 29, of Latimer Drive, Hornchurch, received an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, for conspiracy. Mohammed Farooq, 76, of St Catherines Avenue, Luton, was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, for money laundering.
He had purchased a property in cash that was subsequently discovered to be operating as a cannabis factory. All five men were sentenced at Luton Crown Court on the same day.
Officers found cannabis factories at each of the raided properties, 19 in Luton and one in Milton Keynes.
Police response
Bedfordshire Police said the sentences represent a significant result against an organised criminal network operating cannabis factories on an industrial scale across the county. Detective Chief Inspector Simon Mullan, from the force’s Operation Costello team, said the convictions send a clear message that police will pursue everyone involved and bring them before the courts.
He said high-level criminality relies on a network of individuals carrying out different roles, from sourcing properties and producing fraudulent documentation to supplying specialist equipment and maintaining cultivation sites. He added that behind the network are victims who had their homes destroyed and left in a state of disrepair.
Mullan urged communities to report suspicious activity in their neighbourhoods, saying information from the public plays a vital role in helping police tackle organised crime. The force vowed to continue identifying and disrupting every part of the organised crime chain.
