Convicted drug dealer sprints away from reporter
A property developer who pocketed more than £320,000 from an illicit drug operation will only have to repay less than a sixth of his ill-gotten wealth. Matthew Cleary and his partner in crime Mikel Kujtila were implicated in cannabis factories across Cardiff, Wales, in a conspiracy believed to involve more than 100kg of the Class B drug.
Cardiff Crown Court was told that Cleary, 35, resided in a “high-spec” home boasting large flat-screen TVs in most rooms and luxury watches valued up to £40,000. He relished golfing at the Algarve’s posh Monte Rei club and had accumulated a collection of high-end clothing and trainers.
However, his wealth wasn’t solely derived from his property business which, he later confessed, only brought him around £35,000 annually.
Cleary’s involvement in a drug ring was uncovered by the police and in December 2022, he was slapped with a 32-month prison sentence for conspiring to supply cannabis. In a proceeds of crime hearing on Wednesday (May 8), prosecutor Roger Griffiths stated that Cleary had profited to the sum of £323,962 from his criminal activities. But, the recoverable amount was merely £52,174, reports Wales Online.
Judge Richard Kember ordered Cleary to pay £52,174, giving him three months to cover the costs. “If you do not pay within three months and do not apply for an extension you are at risk of going to prison for one year,” he said.
Matthew Cleary has been ordered to pay back just £52k of £323k earnings through a convicted drug ring (Image: Police Heddlu )
As Cleary scarpered from court, a reporter from our sister website, WalesOnline, tried to grill him about his case but he bolted away at high speed.
The sentencing hearing in December 2022 heard that police probing the drug ring had turned up at Copleston Road, Llandaff North, in June that year. Officers spotted 33-year-old Kujtila through the kitchen window of what emerged to be one of his cannabis farms.
The Albanian national initially “froze” but when officers said they could see him through the window he let them in and they found a “significant” amount of cultivation gear in the living area, prosecutor Tom Stanway revealed.
Kujtila had keys for a VW Caddy, a BMW 3 Series, and a Mercedes van. Inside the vehicles, officers discovered more than 17kg of cannabis in vacuum-packed bags and Albanian passports for “gardeners” at drug grows in the area.
Mr Stanway noted there was “high-level clothing” in Kujtila’s property as well as paperwork on the installation of a swimming pool. Police examined Kujtila’s phones and linked the messages to Cleary who was pulled over by officers while driving a Range Rover on Mynachdy Road. Inside the vehicle were packages containing around a kilogram of cannabis resin.
Its street value was estimated at £1,000 but the court heard it may have been a high-quality Moroccan strain which would have been worth as much as £6,000.
Officers searched Cleary’s house and found smaller amounts of cannabis in Ziploc bags. Mr Stanway said: “The home had a high-spec finish and was lavishly decorated with a digital media system installed in the bathroom and a large flat-screen TV in almost every room.”
Police seized Tag Heuer and Audemars Piguet watches from the home as well as three pairs of Valentino trainers. They discovered texts Cleary had exchanged with Kujtila discussing deals of various cannabis strains with contacts across the UK.
In total the messages referred to deals involving some 90kg of the drug. Kujtila mentioned finding a warehouse in London where there was “significant profit to be had”, the prosecutor told the court.
The trail of evidence uncovered by officers led to the discovery of eight cannabis factories scattered around Cardiff and its vicinity, with locations including Aberystwyth Street, Cathays Terrace, Llantrisant Road, Cowbridge Road East, and Rolls Street.
One of the drug farms was nestled within a building on Pontypridd High Street, which housed six dedicated growing rooms.
The extensive operation yielded hundreds of plants and resulted in the seizure of approximately 40kg of cannabis throughout the investigation, prosecutor Mr Stanway revealed. One incriminating text from Kujtila stated: “The boss has people with guns at night.”
This message was presented by the prosecution as an indication that Kujtila was entangled in an organised crime group with access to firearms. However, Judge David Wynn Morgan expressed his skepticism, stating: “There is no evidence of anything like shootouts in the street.”
Cleary, who had managed to avoid any prior run-ins with the law, initially claimed innocence, suggesting he had unwittingly picked up a box filled with drugs at a friend’s lockup. Despite his initial defence, Cleary eventually admitted guilt to the charge of conspiring to supply cannabis.
He disclosed that his connection to Kujtila stemmed from their past as neighbours, living across the street from one another.
Kujtila pleaded guilty to the conspiracy, with his lawyer Karl Volz revealing: “He has no relevant convictions. His wife lives in London and he has a child living with his first wife. He came to the UK in 2017 in the back of a lorry and paid £9,000 for that service.
“He was initially working for an employer in gardening services but was paid very little and had no documents. At that stage the people who trafficked him into the country got in touch and encouraged him to pay off the debt by working in construction. He went with them and it turned out construction was cannabis.”
Cleary was visibly emotional as his legal representative Matthew Roberts made a case for him. “For a variety of reasons he became trapped in the culture of cannabis, initially as a low-end user. Following the passing away of a close friend in 2020 and a very serious car accident he had in 2021 there was an ever-increasing reliance on cannabis and getting a better quality of cannabis,” he said.
Roberts also highlighted his client’s industrious nature, noting that he managed a property company employing six subcontractors. “He is keen to rebuild his life as soon as possible,” Mr Roberts added.
“He has seen first-hand the damage cannabis has done to him and his relationships. The risk of re-offending is low.”
Judge Morgan described the duo’s involvement in the cannabis operation as “significant”, and said: “The two men in the dock are not all the people who ought to be in the dock. Those sophisticated criminals who organise these cannabis factories very rarely appear in the dock. They take steps to make sure others take the risks of inevitable custodial sentences that follow from this activity.”
He went on to detail the backgrounds of the accused, saying, “In this case we have someone who came to this country under the auspices of wicked people and found himself obliged to work for them. On the other hand we have an individual who became addicted to cannabis and found a way to obtain more cannabis and benefit from the sale of cannabis.”
While acknowledging the unfortunate circumstances of the case, Judge Morgan emphasised the destructive nature of the illegal cannabis trade, stating it is a “scourge that creates degradation and misery”. He handed down a sentence of 32 months in prison each to Cleary and Kujtila at the time.
