Two huge cannabis operations capable of producing thousands of pounds worth of the illegal drug have been discovered in Pembrokeshire.

Premises on the outskirts of Narberth and Llawhaden were found by police to have been taken over for the intensive growing of cannabis plants.

Investigations revealed that the three men behind the operation were also involved with another cannabis factory in Port Talbot.

And one of them was since jailed for his part in similar operations in Llandeilo and Porthyrhyd, Carmarthenshire.

The enquiries in Pembrokeshire, led by Tenby CID, began in industrial unit at Narberth Bridge and a former garage at Llawhaden.

Inside, it was evident that the premises had been used for the cultivation of cannabis and a number of items were seized.

An eight-day trial at Swansea Crown Court saw police presenting some 150 exhibits relating to the investigation. Ernest John Lewis, aged 57, and brothers Matthew Passenger, aged 40, and Ryan Passenger, aged 30, were all found guilty of conspiracy to produce cannabis in the buildings, together with a further building at Port Talbot.

They were sentenced by the court on Monday, November 1st, when Matthew Passenger, of Tunbridge Wells, was jailed for six years. Ryan Passenger – who was living in Llanybydder at the time of his arrest – was given a three-year-prison sentence, while Lewis was ordered to serve an extra nine months in prison.

They were jointly charged with Ian Michael Stone, aged 47, whose address was given as Narberth Bridge, Narberth.

He was found not guilty and acquitted.

Last December, Lewis, of Uplands, Swansea, was sent to prison for six years by Swansea Crown Court for conspiring to produce cannabis.

Police had been alerted to Carmarthenshire after the discovery of the body of a Vietnamese man who had been dumped in a ditch near Llanelli.

The man had died while working in a cannabis factory in a house owned by Lewis.

A ‘substantial’ amount of cash seized by police from Matthew Passenger’s house is to be the subject of a Proceeds of Crime hearing.