A 45-year-old man has denied being involved in a sophisticated cannabis-growing operation set up at an East Staffordshire farm.
Mitchell Raymond Nicholls appeared at Stafford Crown Court via a video link from prison, where he is being held on remand. He pleaded not guilty to being concerned in the production of cannabis at the farm at Hoar Cross between January 2012, and March 2015.
Nicholls also denied being in possession of drugs with intent to supply and being involved in the transfer of almost £150,000 into his account between August, 2010, and March, 2016, which he knew, or believed, was the proceeds of criminal activity.
The case was adjourned until March 14 next year for trial and Nicholls, of Tyebeams, Shard End, Birmingham, was remanded in custody.
The court heard that Nicholls had been working abroad and flew back to the UK from Switzerland on November 5 and was arrested at Heathrow airport.
In January this year three other men were all jailed after admitting their role in the lucrative cannabis plot.
A man, who died a short time after being released from prison, and 64-year-old Ian Locke, from Telford, were both jailed for 27 months and Martin Young, 52, the tenant at the farm, was jailed for 38 months.
At the time the court was told the cannabis cultivation operation was discovered during a police raid at Brackenhurst Farm, Newchurch, in March, 2015.
Officers found a professional cannabis factory hidden behind huge bales of hay in rooms in three barns at the farm located in an "idyllic rural spot" on the A515 at Hoar Cross.
