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."
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A total of 223 plants were discovered in total with a potential yield of at least six kilograms, worth an estimated £24,000.
When police returned to the ground floor they realised there was a door which they had not looked behind. Upon entering the room they saw Lulja standing in the doorway. He was arrested and claimed he was initially asleep upon the police's arrival. Documents were found in the defendant's name, including car hire for a Renault Clio, and there was a list of names who may have been related to the enterprise.
Lulja, of no fixed abode, later pleaded guilty to cannabis cultivation. He is originally from Albania but it is not known how he entered the UK. The defendant is of previous good character and claimed he was working in order to pay off debt to those who had trafficked him into the country.
Judge Matthew Porter-Bryant sentenced Lulja to eight months imprisonment. He will serve half the sentence in custody before he is released to serve the remainder on licence.
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