A BUSINESSMAN whose industrial unit was an “Aladdin’s Cave” of stolen car parts has been jailed for four years.

Bolton Crown Court heard how Ramzan Ahmed leased two units at the Pilot Industrial Estate, off Manchester Road, Bolton, the larger one to accommodate his car parts business while using the smaller one to house a cannabis farm run with his co-defendant, Asim Ahmad.

Vanessa Thomson, prosecuting, told how Ahmed first came to the attention of the police special investigation branch in 2011 after officers noticed components from relatively new cars were being sold on eBay by a company called Permanent Discounts, which is owned by Ahmed.

The parts were suspiciously clean and undamaged, unlike parts which often come from a salvage yard.

Police raids on March 17, 2011, uncovered hundreds of car parts, and Ahmad was found with keys to another unit and a quantity of plant food.

When they opened the second unit they discovered a cannabis factory of 323 plants and capable of producing a yield of almost 13kg of cannabis. Sold on the streets the cannabis was worth up to £135,000.

Ahmed’s fingerprints were found on cannabis production equipment inside the factory.

The 34-year-old, of New Lane, Breightmet, had pleaded guilty to producing cannabis with intent to supply and 14 counts of handling stolen goods the day his trial was due to start on March 4.

Ahmad, aged 33, of College Drive, Whalley Range, had denied producing cannabis with intent to supply but was convicted after a trial.

At their sentencing hearing yesterday, Ms Thomson told how, amongst the large number of car parts stored at Unit 10, were doors, tailgates, bumpers and other parts from at least 14 stolen vehicles, including a Lexus, Mazda RX8, a Toyota RAV4 and three BMW 5 series.

The total value of the stolen cars identified was more than £130,000.

Shirlie Duckworth, defending Ahmed, said the father-of-three had initially set up a legitimate car parts business after losing his job as an IT worker with Fujitsu.

When it proved to be unsuccessful he found he was “unable to resist” when thieves approached him offering to sell him stolen cars, she added.

Judge Peter Davies sentenced Ahmad to three-and-a-half years in prison and Ahmed was jailed for four years, telling the latter that he was in charge of “an Aladdin’s Cave of stolen car parts”.