A man and teenager caught tending a 'cannabis factory' in Kingswood have been jailed. The pair, both Albanian illegal immigrants, were found looking after 160 cannabis plants when police raided the converted house in Holly Hill Road in June last year.
Kreshnik Kaloshi, 19, who was staying at the address, pleaded guilty to producing a Class B drug. The same charge was admitted by Olsi Hajrullahu, 27, of no fixed abode. The recorder Mr David Chidgey sentenced Kaloshi to nine months' youth detention and jailed Hajrullahu for eight months. He told them: "This was a significant cannabis set up."
David Maunder, prosecuting, told Bristol Crown Court when police raided the premises they found the electricity supply had been bypassed, artificial lighting and five growing areas with 160 cannabis plants. He said plants were at different stages of growth and each plant had potential to yield 500g of cannabis.
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When interviewed the defendants stayed tight-lipped, the court heard. Neither of them had previous convictions recorded in the UK.
Nicholas Clough, defending Kaloshi, said his client came to the UK in March last year. But after he failed to find legitimate work he gravitated to the Albanian community and was offered food and accommodation if he tended plants at the Kingswood set up.
Mr Clough said: "He knew it must have been an illegal operation. He was the gardener."
Gregory Gordon, defending Hajrullahu, said his client entered the UK in December 2017. He told the court Hajrullahu fled his native Albania after the death of his father sparked a blood feud over land.
Mr Gregory told the court: "He had been living in London. The pandemic hit construction work, his savings were used up and he had no other source of income." Mr Gregory stressed his client only assisted at the set up on some four occasions and had not lived there.
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