Sisters raked in thousands from Leeds space-cake business with 3,000 Instagram followers
Sweets and treats laced with cannabis were sold online
Two sisters made tens of thousands of pounds from selling cakes and sweets laced with cannabis that they openly advertised on Instagram.
Saniya and Samerah Ahmed had more than 3,000 followers for the firm, named Astrocakes, in which they would provide a menu and even had loyalty cards for regular customers.
Their page offered deliveries and pick-up services while customers left reviews like a regular business, prosecutor Matthew Harding said.
The pair were spared immediate jail at Leeds Crown Court this week.
Between January 2022 and March 2024 they sold baked brownies and cakes infused with cannabis oil, and also made chocolate and sweets laced with the drug.
Selling them from £10 depending on the strength, the products were created in moulds and sold in brightly-coloured packaging.
Investigators were alerted by the popular Instagram posts and a home on Norwood Terrace, Hyde Park, was later raided.
They found ingredients, packaging and more than £19,410 in cash was seized. They also found business cards and the loyalty cards.
Mobile phones were seized and contained messages that suggested 26-year-old Saniya ran the company, with 30-year-old Samerah assisting in buying ingredients, when asked.
More than £56,265 had also been moved through a Monzo bank account belonging to Saniya.
Both admitted conspiracy to supply cannabis and acquiring criminal property pertaining to the £19,410 found at the house.
Saniya, of Norwood Terrace, also admitted acquiring criminal cash relating to the £56,265 in the bank account.
Mitigating for Saniya, Rhianydd Clement said she accepted “full responsibility” and a probation report showed she had demonstrated an awareness of the impact of her criminal behaviour.
She said Saniya had no previous convictions but realised her hopes of working in the legal profession were now in ruins.
Ms Clement said: “She is not the same person she was years ago and has rebuilt her character.”
For Samerah, Zarreen Alam-Cheetham said references on her behalf described her as “kind, hard-working, and a devoted wife”, but said she had now “tarnished” her good character as she also had no prior convictions.
Ms Alam-Cheetham added: “It was not her operation, it was her sister’s.
“It was a severe lack of judgement. She is ashamed of herself and embarrassed. She is genuinely remorseful. She was involved through naivety.”
She said she had a university degree and was now the mother of a very young baby.
Judge Simon Phillips KC described it as a “profitable business” that had a “degree of sophistication”.
He handed Saniya a 24-month sentence, suspended for 24 months, with 15 rehabilitation days to complete, along with 100 hours of community service.
Samerah, of Nancroft Crescent, Armley, was given 21 months, suspended for 24 months, with 15 rehabilitation days.