A young man was forced to leave his home country for Britain and become a "gardener" in a Swansea cannabis factory so he could pay off a family debt to a gang, a court heard. Klajdi Zalli said he had not been outside the drug farm for about two months by the time police raided the house.
Officers found the 23-year-old Albanian on the morning of March 15 at the property in Grenfell Town, Bon-y-maen. They forced the front door open and saw Zalli attempting to flee through the back garden. After they threatened him with Tasers he resigned himself to arrest, prosecutor Georgia Donohue told Swansea Crown Court.
Police seized 122 cannabis plants from four growing rooms which contained fluorescent lights and reflectors suspended by adjustable wires. With a potential yield of 10kg the plants were worth up to £52,000. There was also a kitchen which Zalli used as both a living room and bedroom. The house's electricity supply had been bypassed.
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He told police he had been forced to cross the English Channel to work off a debt his mother owed to a gang in Albania. Ms Donohue said: "When he first arrived he was placed in an immigration centre, then a hotel in Birmingham. He was then contacted by an unknown person on a Facebook call and arrangements were made to move him to Swansea."
Zalli was tasked with "gardening" in the setup which he claimed was in place before his January arrival. He told police he had no prior knowledge of cannabis, adding he lived off food delivery parcels which arrived every two weeks and did not leave the house in the two months or so between his moving in and being arrested.
Ms Donohue told the court: "He said he did not leave the property because he was fearful of repercussions towards his family in Albania... When asked why he tried to escape the property after police arrived he said he believed he was being robbed."
Zalli gave police his phone passcode and later pleaded guilty to producing a Class B drug. His solicitor James McKenna said Zalli had no previous convictions, adding: "He had a significant debt to the criminal gang with regards to his Channel crossing as well as the family debt. There are elements of pressure, intimidation, and control from the gang as to why he finds himself in Swansea. He is still a young man and clearly naïve and immature."
Passing an 18-month jail term, Judge Catherine Richards said there was an "expectation of significant financial gain, albeit to pay off a debt". Zalli will serve half the sentence in custody and the remainder on licence or in a detention centre. The cannabis will be destroyed. You can read more of the latest court cases here.
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