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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Cannabis Cafe Boss Guilty
Melvyn Howe PA News
Thursday 25 Mar 2004 A chef was behind bars today after being found guilty of running a lucrative Amsterdam-style cannabis cafe. Each day scores of customers popped in to Errol Anderson's eatery to buy spicy patties at the counter, before moving to a discreet room at the rear to purchase a bag of marijuana. During the two-and-a-half year operation he and his wife pocketed hundreds of thousands of pounds which they then laundered through a string of property investments, Inner London Crown Court heard. The illicit sideline only came to an end when he was caught red-handed in the middle of a 2.5kg cannabis deal. Anderson, who represented himself for much of the five-month trial, initially showed no reaction as jurors convicted him of 10 counts of money laundering, three of possessing cannabis with intent to supply and one of allowing the illegal trade to be conducted on his premises, between January 2001 and May last year. But after jurors had left the court and the 47-year-old of Ribblesdale Road, Streatham, south London, was remanded in custody to await sentence next Tuesday, he said: 'This is a cook-up.' His wife, Audriana Witter, 49, will be dealt with him after being found guilty of seven money laundering charges. She was allowed bail. The court heard that although the case centred on the Green Leaf cafe in Lander Road, Brixton, south London, Anderson also sold cannabis from his mobile food stall at various festivals. One of them was to mark Worldwide Cannabis Freedom Day. Bryan Lett, prosecuting, told the court the defendant's drug dealing generated UKP100,000 which 'could not possibly be accounted for by the sale of jerk chicken and patties. 'He had to find ways of converting these very substantial cash profits and investing them ... without letting the cat out of the bag.' As a result he ended up with a 'property empire' of 14 houses. The court heard that when officers raided the cafe they found nearly 700 packages of herbal cannabis. Most of them had been secreted inside a sound system, although others were found under floorboards. In addition, officers found receipts for 28,050 packets of Rizlas. Although he was not on the premises at the time, Anderson was subsequently arrested but told officers that while he was the 'main man' in the business he knew nothing about the premises being used for drug dealing. Mr Lett told the jury, however, that his arrest proved no deterrent whatsoever, and after being released on bail made a further UKP233,000 from his cannabis dealing. Eventually he was detained a second time, on this occasion at one of the properties bought with the drugs cash. Three other men were with him. 'Partly in a large cardboard box, partly on the table, were a number of packages of skunk, a strong form of cannabis, containing a total of 2.5kg of the drug. 'This was not drug dealing reefer by reefer... but something more substantial. Anderson was caught red-handed as the deal was going down,' the barrister added. Both he and his wife insisted in evidence that any drug dealing carried out on the cafe premises had been without their knowledge. At one stage during the case, after he sacked his legal team, Anderson was questioning a witness when he asked: 'Is it a shame that I end up in a kangaroo court?' The judge intervened, telling him: 'You just ask the questions. Let's leave the kangaroos out of this.'
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