THREE criminals who were part of a conspiracy behind a cannabis factory in Farnham have been ordered to pay back more than £200,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

The three men, all from Uxbridge, were sentenced to a total of 20 years imprisonment for their part in using rented properties across the UK to grow vast quantities of the drug.

These included a property in central Farnham where police discovered 261 cannabis plants with an estimated street value of £201,000 in a raid on May 2, 2013.

Moinul Islam, 37, and Shajahan Ali, 37, were both sentenced to eight years imprisonment, while Ziaur Rahman, 27, was jailed for four years when all three pleaded guilty at Guildford Crown Court in November, 2012.

Their convictions followed a six-month investigation led by Surrey Police Detective Inspector Simon Dann called Operation Lambda, during which officers seized cannabis with a street value estimated to be in excess of £3 million which had been cultivated by criminal gangs from Vietnam.

As well as the property in Farnham, the operation discovered a total of 26 cannabis factories in Chertsey and Godstone, Surrey and elsewhere in Sussex, Thames Valley, London, Essex, Hertfordshire and Durham.