A gardener tending to a cannabis factory with 223 plants with a potential yield worth £24,000 hid from police as they raided the property. He later claimed he was working to pay off a debt to the people who had brought him into the UK.
Renato Lulja, 34, was found to be working at a cannabis farm in Barry after police were called by someone concerned that people were "fighting with knives" inside the house. Officers were sent to investigate the incident in Churchill Terrace at around 3pm on June 13.
A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court heard police gained entry through a rear patio door and at first glance the property appeared empty. A number of rooms were dedicated to the growing of cannabis along with specialist equipment including lamps, fans, transformers, and ducting. Describing the set-up prosecutor Steven Donoghue said: "All the kit needed for a cannabis factory."
