The McCann family moved to West Wales to set up a cannabis production and distribution centre
16:02, 11 Dec 2025
(From left to right) Edward McCann, Linda McCann, and Daniel McCann
A family from the south of England who moved to an isolated house in West Wales to set up a huge £3.5m cannabis factory have been ordered to pay back more than a million pounds in ill-gotten gains.
Edward and Linda McCann and their son Daniel moved from Hampshire to a secluded property with a large barn in Carmarthenshire which had been carefully chosen as a suitable base for their intended “commercial-scale” production and distribution centre.
The father and son were already running a successful cannabis operation in Hampshire when they decided to relocate across the border and expand their business. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here
After spending months searching for just the right property Daniel McCann bought the house in Cwmbach near Whitland in 2015 for £385,000.
The family ran their illicit business for five years until police uncovered what was going on, and it has been estimated that the value of the operation over that time frame could have amounted to as much as £3.5m.
The McCann family was running an ‘industrial scale’ cannabis production and supply operation from their Carmarthenshire home(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
The McCanns were handed lengthy prison sentences in 2022 for their involvement in the cannabis conspiracy, and a proceeds of crime investigation was then launched. After multiple court hearings over the intervening years, the financial matters were resolved at Swansea Crown Court but not before an unrepresented Edward McCann raised a series of issues with the prosecution case and asked when the police were going to return his wife’s stockings and suspenders.
The court had previously heard that on October 23, 2020, police executed a search warrant at the McCann’s compound in Cwmbach and that after forcing entry to a large outbuilding next to the detached house on the plot officers found an “extremely well-organised and sophisticated cannabis manufacturing operation”.
This was comprised of six growing rooms on the ground floor equipped with lights and extractor fans as well as a main working area with a commercial-size oven and a pressure-device for extracting oil from plants. The upstairs of the barn was being used as a production area with a table and chairs, tools including secateurs, and clothes-horses on which harvested cannabis plants were being dried.
Harvested cannabis plants being dried(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
Ian Wright prosecuting the original case, said some 202 plants of various stages of maturity from saplings in propagators to a large “mother” plant were recovered during the raid, and police also found a machine for sealing tin cans. Tinned cannabis, the court heard, was an “emerging trend” in the UK as it kept the drug fresher and increased its longevity.
In addition to the plants the themselves, which had a potential value of up to £460,000, officers also recovered around 80kg of “cannabis product” which was worth up to £1.5m.
The court heard the power supply to the barn had been bypassed, and an armoured trenched cable ran from the building directly to a nearby electricity pole.
Meanwhile a search of the McCann family house next to the barn uncovered £10,000 in cash divided into individual £1,000 bundles in the front bedroom, and a cannabis-infused chocolate bar on the kitchen table.
The McCanns were using a commercial oven(Image: Media Wales)
The prosecutor said the family and their employees – local men Jack Whittock and Justin Liles – were running an “industrial-scale” drugs operation not only producing huge quantities of herbal cannabis but also cannabis oil and cannabis edibles such as cannabis-infused chocolate. Mr Wright said that over the five-year life of the operation, the cannabis produced at the Carmarthenshire property may have had a street value of up to almost £3.5m.
The court heard details of extensive text messaging between the conspirators in which they discussed the workings of the operation, the amounts of drugs being supplied, the money being earned, and the apparent high quality of the product. In one text Daniel McCann joked to his mother that she would be like “Edward Scissorhands” – seemingly a reference to the amount of trimming and cutting of plants she was doing to the crop – while in another he boasted that three people had been “f*****” by just one of the family’s cannabis joints. The court also heard about an expensive AMG Mercedes car, which Linda drove, and a Porsche belonging to Daniel.
The defendants had all denied being involved in a cannabis conspiracy but changed their pleas on the fifth day of their trial in April 2022.
Edward McCann(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
Edward McCann, aged 66, Daniel McCann, aged 41, and Linda McCann, aged 63, all of Cwmbach, Whitland, Carmarthenshire; Justin James David Liles, aged 35, of St Clears, Carmarthenshire; and Jack Whittock, aged 32, of Llanteg, Narberth, Pembrokeshire all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis between 2015 and 2020, and to acquiring criminal property – namely cash. Edward and Daniel McCann also pleaded guilty to a separate conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis between 2013 and 2015 when the family lived in Hampshire.
With a 5% discount for their guilty pleas, judge Geraint Walters sentenced Edward McCann to seven years and seven months in prison, Daniel McCann to eight years and six months in prison, and Linda McCann to six years and seven months in prison. Whittock was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison, and Liles to 22 months.
Linda McCann(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
An investigation was then launched into the finances of the McCann family, and after multiple hearings over the past three years the matter was resolved at a under Proceeds of Crime Act hearing on December 11.
Edward McCann, who was unrepresented having parted ways with his third legal team prior to the hearing, told the court that the amount of cannabis supplied to people had been “absolutely none”, that police had been unable to find a single customer, and that the amount of cannabis the prosecution claimed was produced was “scientifically impossible” given the amount of electricity consumed at the site. He also questioned the reliability of prosecution evidence and witnesses, said the Carmarthenshire property was for a “data centre” in connection with an NHS app he had developed, questioned the basis of Proceeds of Crime procedures, and asked whether the police were going to return his wife’s stockings and suspenders which he said officers had seized from the family home.
Daniel McCann(Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
McCann described himself as a “war pensioner” who used cannabis for pain relief, and he told the court that “every single penny” the prosecution was seeking to take from him had been lawfully earned.
After a period of negotiation between Edward McCann and prosecution counsel, an agreement was reached.
Prosecution barrister Mr Wright said the benefit figures for both Edward and Daniel McCann was £1,798,520 each, with the available assets in the case of McCann senior being £342,160 and in the case of McCann junior being £413,583. He said the benefit figure for Linda McCann was £1,450,505 and her available assets had been agreed at £333,586.
Judge Walters made confiscation orders in the available amounts, and gave each defendant an initial three months to pay with prison sentences of four years in default for father and son, and three years for Linda McCann.
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