A 63-year-old Yorkshire businessman who owned an estate agency is among those to have been convicted of running an organised drugs ring in Hull and East Yorkshire.

Jeremy Southgate, 63, of Brough, even applied for government energy grants – which were then used to insulate cannabis farms.

He and three other men have been convicted of a range of offences following an 11-week trial at Hull Crown Court.

They were charged for their involvement in using multiple properties to harvest and sell cannabis whilst making an estimated £2.4million profit every 11-13 weeks.

A Humberside Police investigation was launched in January 2021 after officers executed a misuse of drugs act warrant at a premise on Anlaby Road and discovered approximately £74,000 worth of Class B drugs alongside equipment associated with the production of cannabis.

Leading on from the discovery of this farm and the receipt, an estate agency owned by Southgate and managed by Florjan Kasaj began to draw the attention of officers and surveillance methods were deployed into the organised crime group.

Anderson Estates, based on Newland Avenue, Hull, was being used as a front to run the multimillion pound empire by the men. Whilst it never operated as an estate agent, playing the part, a host of stock images and fake property advertisements were displayed in its shop window.

Behind the scenes, Southgate was actually acquiring properties at auction for a low value cash sums and falsifying ghost tenant documents.

Once the documents had been falsified, Florjan would then manage the properties and instruct both Dardan Mrishaj and Evris Mrishaj to then manage the build of the cannabis factories as well as staffing them using illegal immigrants. It was also discovered Southgate had gained government grants to install insulation around each premises which assisted with the evasion of detecting cannabis factories.

As part of the investigation, officers executed a warrant a property on Huntingdon Street in 2021 and upon entering, officers discovered a cannabis grow within multiple rooms inside the address. In attempt to evade arrest, a man fled the scene but was quickly detained and arrested by officers. He was later charged with conspiracy to produce Class B drugs, money laundering and was found guilty of conspiracy to produce Class B drugs and was deported to Albania in 2021.

Following further lines of enquiries, a warrant was also executed at The Pines Hotel on Spring Bank and upon entry, officers discovered a cannabis grow within multiple rooms inside the property, worth approximately £307,000. In an attempt to distance himself further from the organised crime group, Southgate began getting his affairs in order, this includes falsifying handwritten rental tallies, tenancy agreements and IDs, as well as notifying the council tax of the ghost tenant.

As a part of the ongoing investigation, officers carried out an additional 14 warrants and searched another four properties on Worthing Street, Newland Avenue, Bacheler Street, Auckland Avenue and discovered substantial amounts of cannabis, cash and growing equipment in Hull.

The properties searched included Southgate’s £140,000 boat, Billy Blue, berthed at Hull Marina. Whilst on board Southgate’s boat officers recovered £50,849.39 in cash, a further search of his home and another property uncovered a further £324,375.40 in cash and counterfeit IDs.

Ervis Mrisgaj, aged 25 of Peterborough was charged with two counts of conspiracy to produce Class B drugs and was found guilty of both offences.

Florjan Kasaj, aged 41, of Buckingham Street, Hull was charged with conspiracy to produce Class B drugs and money laundering and found was guilty of conspiracy to produce Class B drugs.

Dardan Mrishaj, aged 37, of Duesbery Court in Hull was charged with two counts of conspiracy to produce Class B drugs and possession of a taser and was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to produce Class B drugs.

Southgate was summonsed and charged with two counts of conspiracy to produce Class B drugs, money laundering, two counts of fraud by false representation and found guilty of all offences.

Detective Constable Karen Smith said: “I hope today’s outcome at court serves as a warning to all organised crime groups who think it is okay to commit criminality in our area.

“Whilst these men operated a sophisticated set up, flooding our streets with Class B drugs, investigations relating to organised crime can be lengthy and complex, but it was only a matter of time before our specialist trained officers dismantled this criminal network.

“Enforcement may not be taken immediately; I would like to reassure the communities that everything we receive helps us build a bigger and more complete picture. This ultimately allows us to bring criminals to justice.

“I would also urge those who rent their properties out to tenants to make sure this is done so legitimately, and through the right to rent channels so you are able to safeguard not only your property, but yourself as well. Quite often, electricity and gas are abstracted illegally which can have significant financially repercussions.

“I would also like to thank our partners who assisted teams in carrying out a number of warrants, including, Northern PowerGrid, Hull City Council, East Riding Council and Home Office Immigration.

“I would like to once again thank the public for their support, as without information from our communities we couldn’t have the impact we did.”

The men will return to Hull Crown Court for sentencing later this year.