Man who lived lavish lifestyle from running cannabis factories jailed for almost 7 years

The leader of an organised crime group, who earned millions of pounds by running 12 cannabis factories across the south, has been jailed.

Mustafa Oustha, 39, appeared at Guildford Crown Court, where he was sentenced to 6 years and 8 months in prison, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to produce cannabis and concealing criminal property.

Police say he lived a 'lavish' lifestyle of luxury cars and properties abroad.

Prior to the sentence, the Judge commented that it was “difficult to envisage a more serious case of production of cannabis.”

The sentence follows a large-scale investigation into the rental of 12 industrial units across the south east of England which had been turned into cannabis factories between 2016 and 2021.

Following the conclusion of the investigation, the estimated street value of the plants grown was around £6 million.

Multiple factories, both live and abandoned, were discovered since 2016 across the country, in locations including Wokingham and Basingstoke.

In February 2021, Surrey Police were notified of a burglary at an industrial unit in Farnham, which turned out to be a large cannabis factory.

Oustha was identified by police as the main suspect, and investigations showed he'd been renting the units under five different aliases.

He was arrested by Surrey Police on Thursday, 21 October 2021, following a warrant conducted at his home address West London.

Further warrants were also carried out that day by Thames Valley Police in Bicester and Buckinghamshire, leading to the discovery of two further live cannabis factories.

At his home address, officers discovered items which showed the lavish lifestyle Oustha was living.

Around £23,700 cash was discovered hidden around the house, as well as 18 high-value watches worth an estimated total of £500,000. Oustha also had two luxury cars and had purchased properties in the UK and abroad.

Delivering the sentence, the Judge described how Oustha had “led the high life” due to his criminal activity.

Following his arrest, Oustha was interviewed where he admitted to renting out these units but had no knowledge of what they were being used for. He was charged and remanded into custody.

After being charged, a further cannabis factory, which was run by Oustha, was discovered in Aldershot in November 2021.

As part of his sentence, Oustha was also given a Serious Crime Prevention Order, with conditions including not being able to own more than one mobile phone.