Men arrested after two cannabis farms found on one street
TWO houses on the same street were converted into large cannabis farms and were being looked after by illegal immigrants.
Ismet Degjoni and Ronaldo Kurti had paid thousands of pounds to be brought to the UK in the back of a lorry, with false promises of a better life and lawful job opportunities.
But they were soon put to illegal work by a criminal gang behind the drugs factories in Forest Hall, North Tyneside.
Police turned up at Oswin Road on October 7 last year and while there was no active cannabis farm at the first house they visited, neighbours told them the same landlord owned two other properties on the street.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that at one, there was no reply but a strong smell of skunk cannabis was emanating from it.
Degjoni was then seen to jump out of a back window but he was detained and arrested.
A total of 211 cannabis plants were inside, worth up to £88,000.
Rachel Glover, prosecuting, said: “It was a sophisticated set up, with the electricity meter bypassed and it was capable of producing significant quantities of cannabis and the plants were in excellent condition.”
At the other house, two doors along, there was a similarly pungent aroma and Kurti was detained outside.
Inside, there were 134 plants, worth up to £56,000.
Miss Glover said both men were “illegal entrants”, with Degjoni having arrived from France tens days before his arrest and Kurti from France six months previously.
Both pleaded guilty to producing cannabis and were each jailed for two years.
Matthew Purves, for Degjoni, said: “He ended up in the UK out of hope for creating a better life for himself and his family.
“However the method of coming here was not lawful and he was unable to find work.
“He wishes to return home as quickly as he can and he apologises for the behaviour he has worked himself into.
“The plants were already in an advanced state of growth.
“There was an element of vulnerability on his part in not speaking the language and having no chance to undertake lawful work.”
Mark Harrison, for Kurti, said he spent around £15,000 to come to the UK, in the mistaken belief he could secure lawful employment.
He said: “He was transported in a lorry to the UK and was told there would be work in the construction industry for him. Sadly, but not surprisingly, no such work transpired and he was moved from location to location and found he was in North Tyneside, where he was placed in an address as a gardener.”