MAN FORCED TO WORK IN WEED FARM TO PAY OFF £8,000 DEBT

He arrived in the UK on a dinghy and owed traffickers the cash

A MAN looked after cannabis plants in a terrace home to repay traffickers the £8,000 he owed them for bringing him to the UK in a dinghy.

Jurgen Myqelefi had spent a few days at an immigration centre in Dover before being moved to a hotel, where a criminal gang contacted him.

He was placed on a construction site but was then told his debts were not being paid quickly enough, and he was taken to a house in Middleport and told to tend to the plants.

But police raided the property in Maddock Street at 9am on October 6 and arrested the Albanian national as he tried to flee through the back door.

Officers recovered 68 three foot tall cannabis plants in the two upstairs bedrooms. They also found 53 plants which were 30cm tall in the loft which was used as a ‘nursery’.

Now Myqelefi has been jailed for nine months at Stoke-on-trent Crown Court. Prosecutor Mark Brookes said officers found 38 cannabis plants in a rear bedroom along with 60 transformers and a timer. And from the front upstairs bedroom they recovered 30 plants, with a further 53 smaller plants in the loft.

Mr Brookes said: “The 68 larger plants had an estimated yield of 7.14 kilograms and the plants in the loft had an estimated yield of 5.36 kilograms. Police recovered £170 from the defendant.”

Myqelefi, of Travers Street, Middleport, pleaded guilty to producing a class B drug.

Stuart Muldoon, mitigating, said Myqelefi’s father had financial difficulties in Albania. Mr Muldoon said: “He was told he could come to the UK in order to work in construction and be able to financially assist his father.

“In order to do that he had to pay a criminal gang £8,000 to get him here. He was brought here in a dinghy. He was detained at Dover at the immigration centre for two days. He was then placed in a hotel where he was contacted by the criminal gang.

“They then placed him in construction work but seven days before he was arrested they told him the debt was not being repaid quickly enough and he would have to do this criminal activity on their behalf.

“It would have cleared his debt. His understanding was as soon as the mature plants were taken from the premises he would then leave and somebody else would come in. There was an element of exploitation.

“He was released by the authorities in the community with no means. He is vulnerable to criminal gangs.

“He is remorseful for his involvement in this offending and he is adamant he will not be involved in this criminal activity again.”

Judge David Fletcher told Myqelefi: “You took the decision, no doubt with some pressure placed upon you, that you would agree to tend these cannabis plants to wipe out that debt.

“This was an operation capable of producing significant quantities for commercial use. I do accept you are remorseful now for your actions.”

The judge ordered the forfeiture of the £170 cash as well as the destruction of the plants and the growing equipment.