Drugs haul: Vanessa and Steven Howard, owners of Mister Stevens Removals.
MORE than 700 cannabis plants potentially worth about £460,000 were discovered at the home of the owners of Grimsby firm Mister Stevens Removals.
Husband and wife, Steven and Vanessa Howard, of Yarborough Road, Grimsby, have owned the firm for 28 years and employ up to 11 staff.
At Grimsby Crown Court Vanessa Howard, 49, said the business had been struggling for years and had to rent out its warehouses.
Steven Howard, 50, admitted cultivating cannabis and money laundering.
His wife of 25 years, admitted being concerned in cannabis growing and money laundering.
At a hearing in the crown court to settle the basis of plea for Mrs Howard, Judge David Tremberg warned Mrs Howard she risked immediate custody when the pair are sentenced next month.
He said she had been “caught red-handed” by police as she trimmed cannabis plants which had been hanging out to dry at their Yarborough Road home.
Other rooms in the home had washing lines ready for hanging more plants to dry.
In an outbuilding police officers found nearly 700 plants at various stages of growth.
A chest freezer contained 11 carrier bags filled with cannabis leaves.
Prosecuting, Zaiban Alam told how officers executed a warrant at the couple’s home on May 22 last year and found plants in the kitchen and dining room.
There were 32 plants and officers found plant grinders and scales in the home.
A safe in the house contained £3,200.
When Mr Howard arrived home, he unlocked the garage where officers discovered the walls and windows were screened with silver linings.
A high-powered lighting system had been set up.
In the first section there were 235 plants of a medium to large size.
In the second section, which was split into two levels, there were 449 plants of a smaller size.
Miss Alam said the electricity supply had been bypassed.
She said the four harvests the plants had yielded would each have had a street value of £184,100.
She estimated a lowest level of value of each harvest would have been £115,000.
Over the period of time the prosecution said the crops were grown, between January 2012 and May 2013, there was a potential for four harvests, which would reap a total of £460,000.
Stash of 700 cannabis plants found at home of Grimsby removal firm owners
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