A CANNABIS farmer who topped the chain of command in a local drugs network stashed more than £300,000 in ill-gotten gains in China, a court heard.

Now a judge has ordered Yehao Yan, aged 28, who was jailed for eight years last year, to pay back £125,056 or face a further 25 months in prison.

Judge Norman Wright, sitting at Burnley Crown Court, made a Hidden Assets Order after the court heard evidence from the police which showed that Yan had been moving money to his homeland.

Police believe that Yan was an “area supervisor” and had money stashed in various bank accounts.

He was arrested on September 20, 2007, after police raided a cannabis farm in Beaumont Drive, Lostock.

The court heard that Yan benefited by £319,913.

Judge Wright said he suspected much of the cash had gone to Yan’s family and friends and ordered the defendant to get in touch with his contacts in China and get the money back.

Tony Wood, Bolton CID’s financial investigation officer, said: “This is another case in Bolton where assets hidden in different parts of the world have been traced, following recent successes finding the proceeds of crime in Jamaica and Pakistan.”

He added: “No matter where in the world criminal assets are hidden, we shall seek to take them back.”

Yan, of no fixed address, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court in September, 2008, after a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to produce cannabis, money laundering and possessing a false passport.

Yan was arrested at the house in Lostock, which had inside 459 plants, with a street value of around £39,384.

Documents were found that linked the house to a property in Halliwell Road and a second raid lead to the discovery of 329 cannabis plants, worth £28,228.

Investigators found that Yan had the tenancy agreements, not only for the two Bolton houses, but also for properties in Stockport and Salford.

Police discovered another cannabis farm at one of the Salford houses in Weaste Lane.

They found four bank accounts, which had around £240,000 in cash being moved through them.

pkeaveny@ theboltonnews.co.uk