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Chronicle Live
National
David Huntley

Illegal Albanian immigrant tended to County Durham cannabis farm to repay debt to smugglers

An illegal Albanian immigrant tended to a County Durham cannabis farm in order to repay a debt to those who smuggled him into the UK.

Riza Hasa had been in the UK for around three months after arriving in the country by boat and was given temporary accommodation in a hotel. But the 27-year-old "absconded" from the hotel after a man offered him to work at a cannabis farm in Trimdon. Hasa was then taught how to look after the cannabis plants before police raided the farm on October 23 this year and arrested him near the property.

Hasa, of no fixed address, appeared at Durham Crown Court on Monday via link from HMP Durham to be sentenced for producing cannabis. He pleaded guilty to the charge at the hearing through an interpreter.

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