Cannabis farm found after police raid house
WHEN police raided a Swansea house they found the three-storey building was given over to the production of cannabis, a court has heard.
Officers found 250 plants in the premises, along with an Albanian gardener who was tending the crop.
The potential street value of the harvested plants was put at more than £65,000.
It then emerged the gardener, Albanian national Dejan Sula, had been in the UK illegally for four years after paying peoplesmugglers to get him into the country.
Swansea Crown Court heard that on May 3 this year police executed a search warrant at a rented house in the city’s North Hill Road.
Robin Rouch, prosecuting, said police found five rooms in the property had turned over to the production of cannabis in what was described as a “relatively sophisticated operation”.
In the kitchen of the house police found 25-year-old Sula.
The court heard that there were 250 plants in total growing at the address, and their yield was estimated to be worth up to £65,500 when sold as street deals.
In his subsequent interview Sula said he had been in the UK for four years after paying others to get him into the country. During that time he had lived in Milton Keynes and London, working mainly in car washes.
Mr Rouch said the defendant told police that while in London he was offered work in Swansea, a job he initially thought was legitimate. However when he got to the city he realised what the work was – he told police he tried to leave but was threatened.
The prosecutor said Sula’s case had been
examined by the Home Office and it had been concluded that he was not the victim of human trafficking. He added while pressure might have been put on the defendant, it was insufficient to constitute modern slavery or duress.
The court heard the house had been rented by “someone other” than the defendant.
Sula, of North Hill Road, North Hill, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to producing cannabis when he appeared in the dock via videolink from prison for sentencing.
The court heard he has no previous convictions.
Saravanak Kumar, for Sula, said the defendant’s motivation had not been greed but “sending back money to his impoverished family back in Albania”.
He said his client had been unaware of what he was getting into when he accepted the job in Swansea, and had been threatened when he tried to leave the city.
Judge Paul Thomas QC said Sula had been working as a “gardener” in the Swansea cannabis farm, his job seemingly involving watering the plants and carrying out maintenance on the growing equipment.
He said that while he was prepared to accept threats had been used, they had fallen short of what would provide a defence to the charge.
Giving the defendant a one-third discount for his guilty plea, the judge sentenced him to eight months in prison. He will serve up to a half of that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Given the length of time Sula has spent in prison on remand – time which counts against the sentence – he is likely to be released shortly.
The judge said the immigration authorities may seek to take action against the defendant, but that was not a matter for him.